


Burning skies, Burning hope

by Orlha



Series: Rocks in the stormy seas, the end of a thousand years [2]
Category: Juuni Kokki | Twelve Kingdoms
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Gen, Intrigue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-01 15:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 41,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2777663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orlha/pseuds/Orlha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set twenty years after Yoko's ascension, Yoko senses something is amiss. She descends the mountain to find the source and resolve it. However things never turn out the way they want it to. Yoko finds her troubles grow into something resembling a civil war. Trust and friendships become a precarious knife edge. [PREQUEL of Gone]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> For most things, I will try to be faithful to the book rather than the anime. Therefore there will be no Yuka Sugimoto and no Ikuya Asano.
> 
> Terminology:  
> I have resisted using most Japanese words in my previous story, but I will now refer Queen/King as Ou. So Kei-ou instead of Kei Queen. It's annoying to type. Have decided to use English names for certain places, unless you prefer to have them in 'japanese'.

"It's been done master," said the low rumbling voice from within the shadows.

Yoko simply nodded without lifting her head. "Good job Hankyo." She dropped the last book onto the finished pile and sat back to enjoy her uncharacteristically empty table. Behind her, the moon hung high and bright like a ball of burning silver, unclouded by the wisps of clouds. Yoko tapped her chin absentmindedly, lost in her thoughts until the rustling of cloth and soft clang of sword broke her from it.

"Come in," she said before even waiting for the knock.

Her two most trusted ministers entered with an anxious look on their face. Both armed as though they had expected some sort of disturbance. Yoko could hardly blame them for being worried. All she had done was tell Hankyo to tell them to come to her study immediately and without anyone knowing.

"It sounded urgent." Kantai's statement lingered an unspoken question. His eyes wandered across her room: the clean table, the small bag by the side of table. "Are you leaving?"

"If you are, then let us accompany you."

Holding her hand up to stop the influx of questions, Yoko looked at them dispassionately. "Both of you must stay. There is a situation that I must investigate. No one must know that I am not here."

She held her hand up again to stem their objections.

"Koshou, it is imperative that you pretend that I am here. Say whatever you wish for the reason of my absence. Say I'm sick or do not wish to see anyone. I don't care. No one must know that I am not here."

She turned to Kantai. It was a pity that she could not bring him along. It would be a great relief to know that she did not have to watch over her back constantly. Human bodyguards were less suspicious than shirei bodyguards. Should she be attacked for any reason, Hankyo pouncing onto the assailant would be very conspicuous. Kantai glared back with a determined look in his eye. He was obviously not going to take no for an answer

"Your majesty, at least let me come along. Koushou's disappearance would be very obvious but a general's disappearance would not be."

"Kantai, be prepared to be summoned. Make sure you are alone every day at least an hour before moonrise. I will send word through Hankyo and I do not want anyone to learn of my instructions. For that reason, you must stay."

She turned to look at the moon. She had not dismissed them. "Hankyo?"

"The Chosai is approaching," came the monotonous voice from the shadows.

It was within moments that the trio heard the soft padded steps on the thick carpet. Koukan smiled as he entered the room, unfazed by message or by the questioning looks of Koshou and Kantai. That was something Yoko liked about Koukan. Always calm and collected, he gave off the impression that he was always prepared.

"As I have expected your majesty, you are leaving tonight?" The edges of his mouth turned to form a small but stiff smile. Koukan was not happy despite his cheerful tone. They had gone through this argument countless times. He knew she was not going to change her mind.

She nodded giving him a wry smile.

"Very well." There was a note of resignation as Koukan spoke. "Then if you'll let me, there is a man in Gyouten. If you won't accept Koshou or Kantai, then at least let this man protect you."

He handed Yoko a small card and a small bag of coins. On it written simply was the name of a person, an emblem and an inn. "I have also prepared you a kijuu, something that would not attract attention."

"Thank you Koukan."

She pulled up her cloak. By now the moon had already sunk low just onto the horizon. The Cloud sea seemed ablaze with the pale light of the moon. Gaishi bowed as she strode through. He had been expecting her ever since Koukan had ordered him to ready the Rokushoku kijuu. Kantai, Koshou and Koukan watched her as she leapt onto the kijuu.

"What is he called?" She pointed at the kijuu.

"Houto, your majesty."

"Burning Winter huh." She patted the white kijuu. It was a fitting name. Red mane and white coat, it would seem like the snow was burning when it flew. Turning it around, it leapt off as she gave them one last glance.

There was no telling how soon she would return. If everything went well, then perhaps she would be back to that stifling court in a matter of days. Chances of that happening were close to zero. That was something the four of them knew.

As they watched her soar into the dark sky, her silhouette shrinking into the distance, a lonely feeling overcame them.

Koshou turned to the two of them. "So errr- Who's going to tell the Taiho?"

* * *

It was the beginning of another autumn. The cool mist drifted in from the outskirts of Gyouten, settling onto the steel-coloured roofs. The shutters of most buildings were still open though the weather has started to cool. But they probably were not closed at night until winter had finally to settle for winters in Kei were chilly at best. Yoko landed at the back of one of the buildings just at the sun had begun to peak above the horizon and chase the night away. A pale orange had started a slow spread through the now navy blue sky. There was a low buzz of animals waking and people moving about, readying to start their day.

As compared to the start of her reign, the buildings were better maintained now. There was budding signs of prosperity in them as she strolled through Gyouten. New signs, fresh paint, clean doors and even expensive silk hung on some of these buildings. Yoko could not help but be cheered by these signs.

It was only until she finally stopped in front of the Jade Wine Inn that the burdens of being a king returned. The inn was a modest building. The pillars and doors were well-worn but well maintained. The steps were smooth from use with a simple wooden sign for its name. Plain lanterns with a simple flower painted on it hung on both sides. Neither too expensive nor too shabby to be eye-catching, it was just plain enough for the eye to glaze by without noticing much. Yoko could not help but wonder if it was on purpose for it seemed almost like a calculative plainness. Had she not sent Hankyo to look for it, she may have just as well walked right by it without noticing it.

A young boy was sweeping the steps when she stopped in front of it. Like the inn, he was modestly dressed, a plain green hoh and matching brown pants. He paused in his motions to look up upon noticing Yoko. Before leaving she had taken pains to dye her hair, it was unlikely anyone would notice her just based on her hair colour.

"May I help you?" he called out.

"I was told to find a man called Satouku here."

Quickly placing his broom by the pillar, he motioned towards the door. "This way please."

The building must have been bigger than what it looked for Yoko followed the boy through a bewildering amount of twist and turns. Finally, the boy ushered Yoko into a room before closing the door behind her. Yoko spun around. For just a moment, fear seized her heart. Had she been locked in? She could feel a cold slither down her spine. Joyu had become nervous in her moment of panic.  _No, Koukan would not have lead her to a trap._  She forced herself to breathe normally as she logically thought it through. He knew that such things would be nothing for the shirei to break her out of it. It would have been an utter waste of effort and time.

She sighed and sat down, taking her time to examine the room. A single lantern lit the windowless room. It was sparsely furnished, plain and simple just like its exterior: a single bed, a single table and two chairs. Yoko was beginning to think that the owner of the inn was just merely frugal. The plainness must not have been calculated as she had earlier believed. Her hand fell onto the bed sheets. It was smooth like silk. Taking the lantern, she bent down to look at them. The bed sheets were plain, but they were silk of the highest quality. This was the kind of silk Yoko saw in the palace. The plainest had truly been deceptive.

Just as Yoko mused over her new knowledge, the door swung open. The man or rather the boy was barely a man. Looking about seventeen or eighteen, his piercing grey eyes scrutinized Yoko as she did the same for him. Averagely built, he was not too muscular to stand out nor too frail looking to be under-estimated. Calculated just like the furnishings of the room were.

"I heard you were looking for Satouku," he finally said, closing the door behind him. "This room is safe to speak."

_Safe to speak?_  Yoko considered that sentence.  _Where had Koukan sent her to?_

"I was sent by Koukan." She placed the small card by the lantern. The boy frowned.

"How can I help you?"

"What is this place?"

The boy looked at her indignantly. "Why have you come here if you do not know what this place is?"

"Koukan insisted that I'd come here. He said that I'd have no one else, then at least let this man be my bodyguard." She tapped the card.

The cloud on the boy's face cleared in an instant after hearing her words.

"I see. In that case tell me what the situation is."

"This is a delicate issue. I must know what this place is first," Yoko insisted.

"This is the department of that deals with things that cannot be named. We were originally under the last king and since the last three queens failed miserably, we have faded further into the unknown." He chuckled humourlessly. "We were originally a secret department to start with. Now only a few ministers know us."

"Something like a secret service, I guess," she muttered.  _Koukan had sent her to find her secret service and make use of it._  She smiled inwardly at that thought.

"So you must be sennin."

The boy gazed at her thoughtfully. "I do not believe this has anything to do with your situation."

She smiled ever so slightly. "I do not believe it does. I just could not help but being curious. Why did Koukan send me to you?"

Then without warning, she leapt forward. Her hands were empty, but she was not unarmed. Yoko could feel Joyu leap into motion, her arms swinging effortlessly to counter the boy's moves. She jumped into the air, dodging his attempt to swipe her legs out and landed in a roll.

They stood facing each other. Despite the short exchange, they were both gasping. Moves quick and swift in a tiny enclosed area was not an easy feat.

"I see." Yoko said. She sat down on the bed. "There is a situation at Bu Province. If it is not resolved in time, this may end up in a bloody civil war and I wish to avoid that. Without going into specifics, there is a group of instigators there and they must be dealt with."

He nodded. "I will come with you. Jinhaku's my name. "

"I'm Youshi." They bowed. "If you don't mind, I'd like to leave at noon," she added off-handily.

Jinhaku nodded and motioned at the bed. "Rest, I'll wake you before then." He turned and left.

In the cool darkness of the windowless room, Yoko drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

 


	2. The problem

When Yoko was shaken away, her body leapt into awareness. Her body unfortunately did not include her eyelids and so while her hands hurried to prepare to leave, her eyelids were still heavy with sleep. Yoko felt the large warm hands gently grab her shoulders and steer her towards the delicious smells. She sat there, spoon in hand, bowl in front for what must have been minutes before her eyelids finally roused. That was when she realized she surrounded by two men. Their faces were wide with amusement and posed no threat beyond hurting her pride.

"Rishou, stop laughing and help out," Jinhaku called out. The burly man hurried to obey though he looked back with a mischievous grin. "Shinzou, you too."

Were they coming along? Yoko was certain that she had hinted that she wanted to be discrete. She watched the duo as they bustled with loading packages onto the kijuu. They were anything but discrete. She wondered if it were better that she just left. Surely she did not really need any help.

"Master," the tiniest voice said from under her feet. This time it was not Hankyo but Hyouki.

Her eyes flickered anxiously to group of men. None of them had noticed it. She did not expect them to, but she had to be careful. Bending low over her porridge she whispered, "Yes."

"Taiho is furious. He says to return or he will come down to fetch you himself."

"Tell him if he does that, it'll not only endanger the operation but also may cause my death."

She could hear the pause in Hyouki's replies as he tried to ascertain the information that she had just given him.

"Master-" There was a quiet plead in his voice. It was unusual to hear such from the shirei. Keiki must be beyond furious for the shirei to be nervous on returning without completing their task.

"Leave."

She turned back to watch the group. Shinzou slid onto the bench in front of her. He had a goofy grin on him that reminded Yoko strongly of Mickey Mouse.

"Hello!" He exclaimed. "So I heard that you are going to resolve that issue in that province. Were you the one who read the report about it or were you the one who received orders about it?"

Yoko looked at him puzzled before glancing at Jinhaku.

"Don't worry! This place is safe from spies. This is the back end dining room. We have two dining rooms. The one where normal guests stay and eat and this. Even the rooms are separated. There are many twists and doors to go through before you find this. Even then, we don't get many guests."

"How many people are there in this organization?"

"Oh! There's about –"

"We are ready to leave," Jinhaku's words slid through Shinzou's. The last man of the group stood patiently beside his tenba. His face held a disinterest look, but his eyes held a quiet alertness and displeasure at Shinzou.

Clearly the number and perhaps the name of the organization was a secret. In that case, Satouku must have been either a secret code or an entry code. Yoko's mind whirled with possibilities. Ever since she had ascended, she had considered making such an organization. It would help nip corruption in the bud but the question on how to make sure this organization would not be corrupted. Such questions had plagued her when she thought about it and the more she thought about it, the harder the system required became. It seemed all too neatly that one such system had already existed from the previous king. At least Tatsu-Ou had been a great king, besides doing some maintenance on the systems he had put in place, Yoko might just be able to use it altogether. Upon thinking this, Yoko felt she was bursting with joy.

She schooled her face to the impassive face, her mind returning to the situation at hand. There were four kijuu including hers. Four, the exact number of people in this room.

"Are they coming as well?"

Jinhaku nodded. "But separately." He added before Yoko could ask. He swung onto his beast. His face said nothing but he gazed at her expectantly. Yoko raised an eyebrow as she motioned at her dishes. "Someone will get it."

As she mounted Houto, Yoko could not help but wish for Kantai. She was used to his easy going silence. Travelling with Jinhaku would probably be anything but easy going. No use wishing for something she could not have. The reasons she had given Kantai were valid and highly probable. Still fresh from the rebellion at Takuhou, they knew what was at risk here should she fail.

The dining room was built oddly. For starters, the kijuu were packed and mounted then travelled out to the city from the dining room. They travelled through some  _rooms_  that was equally winding before they finally burst into the dazing sunlight. Much thought had been put into the architecture of the building. It looked like a normal inn from outside, but it had been merged with the three stores surrounding it. Out of those three stores, two of them had their own fronts. One sold basic groceries while the other sold plain weapons. Like the inn, nothing too fanciful to attract attention. The third store was a stable. It made perfect sense for the door from the hidden interior connected to the stable as a walkthrough. This made people walking out on their kijuu an acceptable sight.

Much like the pace Yoko had travelled in to arrive in Gyouten, they travelled hard to arrive quickly at Bu Province. It was punishing pace given that they had to travel by land in order not to stand out. It was almost gate closing time when they reached the first major city in Bu Province.

Yoko turned to speak to Jinhaku, only to realize that the other three had already scattered. Though they were close by, it seemed that they were travelling separate.

"Jinhaku," she grabbed his arm, forcing him to move a pace slower. "I will apologize in advance if we end up in the jail. We'll probably end up there sooner or later."

"I'm assuming it might be part of the mission."

Yoko nodded. It had been two weeks ago when she had received the first report from Saibou. A bunch of merchants were moving Touki. Not only were they unlicensed, they were in great bulks distributed into small packages. It reminded her strongly of the rebellion in Takuhou, so she paid extra attention to it. There seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. How many more corrupted ministers were there? Were they hiding in Bu Province? Yoko could not find any answer in any of the reports. After much deliberation, she decided to send Sekki to sound it out. Sekki had a knack of finding the true situation. At that point of time, sending Sekki had been the best bet. The regular reports from Sekki had given her a more realistic view of what was happening down there and it not good. It was salvageable then. When the reports ceased, she knew something had happened. The question was not what had happened; the question was how to deal with it. To send Kantai and a platoon secretly or not was much too conspicuous in the Kinpa Palace where gossip moved faster than laws and plans. The only choice was to go down herself. Now she was down in Bu Province to do with two things: save Sekki and eliminate the instigators.

The large stone walls loomed ahead. White stone with dark green tiles, thick and large wooden doors, just seeing them made Yoko feel apprehensive. Yoko had considered what she had to do. Finding the instigators were important after all if Sekki had to be taken out, then it may well be that he was carrying some kind of important knowledge. The Suiguutou had shown her that Sekki was well, albeit filthy. Hankyo had confirmed that he was alive though he was not able to speak with Sekki due to the constant surveillance. Yoko had insisted the shirei not to make his presence known. Being from only the Greater Learning institute, Sekki's alliance with her was not known. That was the reason why she had picked him. Had it been any other minister, she could have been connected too easily.

Pulling from her breast pocket, Yoko showed her travel pass to the guard. She had taken lengths to secretly find a low ranking stamped travel pass to avoid any possible suspicions. The guard gazed over it briefly and motioned her through.

"It's busier than I expected it to be in Bakushou," Yoko said. Things looked fairly prosperous even compared to Gyouten. Bearing in mind that Bu Province was on the outer edges of Kei and the portion closest to the East, she had expected more damage inflicted cities even if it was a major city like Bakushou.

"Bu Province is the wealthiest among all the provinces," whispered Jinhaku. He flicked his pale green hair from his eyes, his eyes scanning the crowd as he spoke, "Ministers invested their money into here." Evidently it was something that both Sekki and Yoko had not picked up.

"Corrupted?"

He shook his head. "Putting money here is considered the  _safest investment_ for those who do not own fields."

 _Safest investment?_ That sounded a whole lot like how the Hourai people thought. She shook her head. The work cut out for her was a lot bigger than she imagined.

* * *

Koshou stood stiffly outside Yoko's office doors. The three retainers and he wore sour faces. There was a reason for those sour faces. A few reasons in fact. The first and foremost was because the current reason on why no one could enter the study was because the Queen was resting and they had been yelled at for some desperate minister forcing his way through. They allowed the person asking permission to enter to guess which minister that must have been without letting on any names before the person would scuttle away to bring news of some minister that had fallen out of the Queen's grace. The second reason was due to the fact that they did in fact had been scolded. Just that it was the Taiho that had scolded them in his quiet fury.

The four of them were in agreement that the Taiho's quiet fury was more frightening that Shoukei's loud anger. Yoko's anger was a mix but what type of anger she had was hardly important. To begin with, Yoko rarely lost her temper. Therefore at any point of time when Yoko was angry, it meant that she was extremely angry.

Not to digress, the weather was a particularly fine weather to stand outside an empty room and sulk. Koshou's attention wandered away as the small songbird perched on a nearby branch and erupted in song. Toshou signalled to them upon seeing the approaching kirin. He hurried forward to assist the kirin with the pile of documents.

In Yoko's study, the previously empty table was now stacked with piles of documents. That was two week's worth of documents. Soon Keiki would have to make the trip to his master carrying the documents and possibly even her seal. That day when Keiki found out that she had slipped out at night to descend the mountain, he had been mixed with both worry and angry. Since then he had sent Hyouki to assist her and inform him of what was happening. Hyouki had obeyed like all shirei do and for the first week, he had returned with regular reports. It seemed that his master was caught in some terrible mess that steadily getting from bad to worse. Now it had been a week since Hyouki's last report. Keiki could feel his gut curl in anxiety.

"Taiho-"

Keiki looked up from the pile of documents. Had he been so preoccupied that he had not heard Koshou call? His delicate eyebrows knotted peevishly.

"Enki is here."

Sure enough, in a distance Keiki could see the bright gold hair. Enki was strolling down the long hallways, carrying a package in his hands.

"What is that?" Keiki ask when Enki dropped it into his arms. He held it awkwardly, the way a man would when he held his first born for the first time.

"A gift of some sorts," he replied nonchalantly. Looking around, he noticed that while stone-face was here, red head was not. "Where's Yoko?"

* * *

Separated by two wooden doors and a hallway, the two figures snoozed in the darkness. Silence had fallen onto the bustling town as the night grew longer. All was quiet, save for the gong as the time watcher walked by.

"Master," a small whisper came from the shadows.

Her eyes snapped open as though she had been waiting for that very whisper. "Speak."

"The weapons landed in Jouzou city. They were separated into two packages. One to the provincial capital, Tougoku and the other much further east, Mensou."

Yoko guessed as much. It would have been easier for her to track the money for it would lead with much certainty to the source. Yet due to the fact that there had been too much money to track, she decided to follow the weapons. Out of five trips, one would certainly go to Tougoku but the other always changed. The other must be a decoy while the real receiver was Tougoku.

She lay there in the darkness, not moving the slightest, just thinking. Her actions were beginning to rouse attention. Not to mention due to that, the frequency of trips were increasing.

"What do you think?" she finally said. She knew the shirei was still there, waiting for her to dismiss him. Though they spoke little, they often had a different insight to the situation. They were after all, looking in from outside the box and they were not human to being with.

"You'll have to make a move soon. Only difference in timing is whether the first move was made by you or them."

It was pretty much the same idea. "Thank you and good job, Hankyo."

Yoko had an inkling that she might have been watched. One of the two shirei would have been able to confirm her suspicions. But with Hankyo busy tracking the real importers in Tougoku and Hyouki busy tracking exports, she could hardly ask them. She considered it for a moment. There was the issue of saving Sekki as well.

"Hankyo. Is there anyone watching Jinhaku and me?"

"Yes. Just one. Would you like me take him out?"

"Yes, but don't kill. Make it look like an accident that is unable to return to surveillance and unable to send word to whomever he works for that he cannot." Yoko felt her shadow lighten as he whisked off to do as she commanded.

"It's been done," he replied, not a moment too soon.

"Is he hurt bad?"

"No, just a lump on his head. He fell into the thick bushes beneath the tree and will not be discovered by anyone until morning."

She swung from her bed, her legs touching the chilled wooden floors. Quickly she pulled on her soft leather boots. Her sword made a faint clang as she swung it over her back. She strode quietly but hurriedly across the hallway and knocked a silent knock on the opposite room. There was a shuffle of cloths before the low voice replied, "Yes."

"We're leaving."

The door swung open to reveal a fully dressed Jinhaku. His luminous green hair was carefully hidden under a dark bandanna. Ready in an instant, Yoko could not help but admire him. He nodded. His grey eyes showed no hesitation or confusion despite the fact that Yoko had not offered any answers. Thrusting the other mask towards Jinhaku, she pulled a mask over her face. They leapt down from their second storey room. She tumbled into a soft roll as Joyu bent her body to cushion itself. They sought the shadows, moving from shadow to shadow. Slowly but steadily, they picked their way across the town.

Yoko aided by Joyu made no noise as she leapt from shadow to shadow, rooftop to rooftop. She was not surprised that Jinhaku was capable of such feat. If she had not gotten it wrong, the Satouku organization was more than just spying. Perhaps even assassinations. The speed that he had dressed in and the readiness without any much knowledge probably showed more than he let on. He was a warrior, ready to obey without question.

Yoko stopped just before the jail house to contemplate on how they were going about breaking in. Though Hokyuu was just a city, it was the second biggest in Bu Province. They did not joke about the jail. Surrounded by tall walls and manned by archers, there was no easy way of getting in without being noticed.

"Here," came the quietest whisper beneath her feet. Yoko leapt. Guided by Hankyo and aided by Joyu, she made her way to a small man hole within a sleeping house. The cover had been loosened by Hankyo and she shimmered her way down.

Behind her, Jinhaku was keeping up. He had not expected her to be able to move so stealthily. He had seen her as a minister and perhaps a soldier due to the fighting skills she had revealed in their first meeting. Soldiers were never good with stealth work. So when she showed that not only could she fight and do investigative work but also move silently, evading even the night watchers, he was more than surprised. He crouched, mimicking her actions as they began to approach a door in the middle of the drain. Either they had been lucky that all the drains and doors were left open or something out there was helping them. A cold shiver travelled down his spine as that popped into his head. If there was something out there helping them, then he did not want to know anything about it.

It was a moment's notice that he noticed the soft landing of feet behind him. He lunged backward, slipping deftly through the man's legs. Knife in hand, he slashed the right ankle before dodging the man's sword. The man's right leg dipped as his ankle tried to support his weight. The attacker was no fool, rather than forcing his ankle to support the weight, he sank on his knee, using it as a pivotal point. Sadly, between the attacker and Jinhaku, his speed was incomparable to Jinhaku. Before he had been managed to lunge at Jinhaku, Jinhaku had appeared behind, readying his blade to slash his throat.

"Don't kill," hissed Yoko urgently. If they killed any guards here, then they would be hunted down as murderers. Things would be a lot worse for them.

Yoko's warning, however, came a little too late. The attacker collapsed to the floor, hands clawing at his throat, desperate to stop the bleeding, then motionless. Yoko swore inaudibly. There was nothing she could do but hurry on. Time was wasting.


	3. Rescuing Sekki

They ran down the narrow hallway and though the sound of their footsteps echoed noisily, neither of them made any effort to soften it. There was hardly any point to do so for what seemed like the whole contingent of jail guards had been roused and whoever who had not been alerted to the intruders were in the process of being alerted. Knocking yet another guard down, Yoko rushed forward. She trusted Jinhaku would take down any others; those that did not, found themselves tripping over the shadows and falling flat onto their faces.

"This way," Hankyo quietly called. The route to Sekki was winding. The deeper she went, the more it felt like the light was being snuffed. There were no windows in these cells. She made a mental note to inspect all the jails in the provinces when she returned. Surely the guards were not so barbaric as to ill-treat prisoners.

She sidestepped a frontal swing, swirling around to tap lightly onto the back of the guard's head. The guard slid to the ground, unconscious. She had to admit that it was difficult to fight a man that was out to kill you while attempting not to kill him. One man, Yes; a whole company? Probably not. She could feel her exhaustion growing.

"How much further?" she asked urgently as she ducked another head blow.

"Just ahead."

Feinting a left, she skidded under the two remaining guards and arrived at a dark, dank cell. Sekki's appearance did not surprise her. She had seen him through her Suiguutou, however it did not prepare her for the smell.

"Sekki!"

The boy that looked back at her was hardly the boy she remembered. Tall and muscled from the training that his brother had ingrained in him, she had looked sorrowfully into the bright brown eyes. She knew exactly what he was being sent into and he knew that too.

She slashed the bars open, her sword cutting through the metal as though it was mere wax. Mere cast iron metal would hardly stop the sacred treasure of Kei.

The motionless figure looked up.

"Your-"

She hushed him before he could finish his greeting. He stood there chained or rather he snagged against the chains that held him up by his arms. Blood, new and old, streaked down his arms. He took a swaying step away as Yoko hacked the chains off. Then wordlessly, he collapsed against Yoko. He was conscious, but barely. Had Yoko waited any longer,  _they_ might have decided that they weren't getting out of him and decided to do off with him. She held him. Her heart filled with guilt and fear. Dried blood cracked down his face. Even without examining him, she could see the red welds down his ragged back.

_How dare they. How dare they torture a man in the Kingdom of Kei!_

She looked up. The sounds of noise grew louder. There would be time to weep and time for apologies, but now was not the time. She gulped audibly, forcing the hot unshed tears back.

"Clear the way," she muttered to nothing in particular.

Hoisting him over her back, she began to make her way back out, all the time following the sound of the voice that no one but her could hear.

* * *

Shinzou saw everything from his vantage point. He saw the man that had been spying on Jinhaku and Yoko fall to the ground all of a sudden. Of course the man had not seen him. Shinzou, unlike Jinhaku and Rishou was the master of shadowy things. People just did not see him unless he wanted them to. In Tatso-ou's time, he had spent most of his time in the shadows. The four of them had different specialities; that was why they were assembled compared to everyone else. They were all able to do most of what each other could do, just that they were better in certain things. He knew that Rishou was a master of stealth killing and infiltration despite his build. Although he was not sure what Jinhaku and Youtashi was. Among all the others in the organization, he did not get along with Youtashi very well.

Youtashi was a silent boy. He was only fourteen when he became part of the organization. Perhaps he was a master of deception. Shinzou could only guess. He had seen Youtashi change personalities the way people changed mask. One moment he was that servile boy that got up early to sweep the doorway of the inn, the next moment he was would be that sly street rat.

The division of work was divided between the three of them, naturally since Jinhaku was the leader of the mission. Shinzou and Rishou took turns to guard the Jinhaku and Yoko while Youtashi - Shinzou was not sure.

As they entered the city, he saw Jinhaku pull up to Youtashi and whispered to him. Since then Shinzou had not seen even the shadow of him.

_They were on the move._  Shinzou pulled himself back from the recollection. Watching them skulk from shadow to shadow. Why was he not surprised that Yoko could actually skulk? It seemed that she was good at doing everything. There must be something that she was not good at.

He hopped from tree to tree, noiselessly and unnoticed by those who walked below. It seemed that Yoko knew exactly where she was going. Did she do prior scouting? He had not seen her do such. Yet she moved with such precision it almost felt like someone was guiding her. He almost laughed at that thought. Jinhaku glanced behind.  _Was that the signal?_

_Two hoots. Two hoots again._ That was the signal he was waiting for.

He spun around and made his way back to the inn. Time for him to work.

* * *

"This way." Jinhaku grabbed Sekki from her shoulders and surged ahead.

Would they be able to return to the inn to grab their things? There was still a ton of paperwork that she wanted to keep.

They dashed through the buildings, uncaring of the noise they made or who saw them. Hazarding a look backwards, she could see the guards far behind. Hankyo must have been keeping them at bay. Yoko was not so sure where Jinhaku was leading her, but he was not heading towards the inn. They rounded another building, twisting and turning through the alleys. She picked up her pace to catch up with Jinhaku.

"We lost them for the moment. Where are you planning to go?"

Jinhaku said nothing, his eyes scanning the streets as they struggled to hide themselves in the slow sunrise.

"Here." They came to a stop at an old tree surrounded by three buildings. It was one of those places that if you did not know about it, you probably would not have found out. Seemingly secluded from the rest of the world, their two mounts with probably their baggage in the packs on the mounts stood waiting for them. She raised her eyes, just in time to see Shinzou leap away. There was no time to ask, she would have to wait.

Putting Sekki in front of her, they kicked off. They rode hard and fast into the mountains. It was only just before noon that they finally stopped for a break.

"How did Shinzou know?" She took large gulps before replacing her water container below the waterfall.

"Secret code."

He watched her bathe Sekki's wounds. Jinhaku had, in a way, guessed that they were going to retrieve a person. When Yoko had mentioned that they might land in jail, he assumed that they were going to infiltrate a jail by getting caught then retrieving that whatever. Her methods were rather rough and her inexperience shone through. There were better ways to do these kind of things, but it was not his place to discuss them. Had she asked for his opinion, he would have given it. However seeing that she had not, he decided to not volunteer information unasked.

The clear water turning into a muddy red as it flowed its way down. Yoko placed the Hekisoujo into Sekki's hands before bandaging it to hold it there. "What is that?" Jinhaku asked. He dropped a small bag of ointments before her with a quizzical look.

It would be difficult to explain its properties away without giving her status away. "It's a charm to get better," she replied at length. With Jinhaku's help, they peeled Sekki's clothes away, bathing more of his wounds before applying ointments. The wounds were red and blistering, a good sign she guessed. At least they were not festering. The older wounds seemed to heal fairly well too. Had they given him medication? It did not seem likely to Yoko. The accounts of these people were ruthless and methodical. It reminded her strongly of Gahou and Seikyou.

_Is it possible that it was them?_

"What is our next move?"

She looked up from her pooling thoughts. "We covered Bakushou and Hokyuu, so I guess the next would be Tougoku."

"What about him? He nodded towards Sekki. They couldn't leave him here and couldn't transport him anyway safe either; they would lose too much time.

"Don't worry, I sent for someone."

"When and how?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Secret code." She smiled faintly at him. "We must hurry though."

* * *

"Where's Shouryu?" Rokuta asked Mousen as he entered the stables. Shouryu's favourite suugu was noticeably missing.

Mousen just shook his head. Rokuta had hardly expected him to know. Shouryu was always vague in where he was going. Stifling a sigh, he turned his mount around and leapt out.

"Ahhh! Taihou! Where are you going? The Chousai was looking for you!"

Rokuta could hear Mousen yelling in the background, but he had to find Shouryu. Hakutaku would just have to wait. They were used to waiting anyway, a little longer wouldn't kill – at least not literally.

 


	4. The Mole

The mid afternoon sun was drifting into the room when Sekki finally woke up. A wet towel lay over his eyes, providing relief to his merciless headache. Though his head throbbed viciously, it did not hurt as much as the rest of his body. His clothes clung to him, drenched in his sweat. Slowly testing his body, he moved to sit up. His body screamed in protest before someone gently pushed him down. Gentle hands brought a cup of cold water to his mouth where he tried to gulp it down.

"Slow down," the soft voice teased. She pulled the towel away. Shoukei sat beside him holding the towel. She dipped the towel into a small bucket before looking back at him. "Do you want a bath?" She turned and nodded to the man standing at the corner of the room. Stunned at finding Shoukei beside him, he had not noticed the man.

He was tall with long brown hair tied into a neat ponytail. With arms folded, he leaned against the window as though uncaring of what transpired in the room. His blue eyes betrayed his stance for they watched Shoukei and him with keen eyes. They flickered to the passing vehicle.

_Probably a paid bodyguard._

Sekki's head hurt too much for him to think. A bath sounded good and maybe some food. Pig slop was better than the food in the jail. His stomach growled in agreement. Shoukei smiled upon hearing his stomach. "Food and a bath then. Shinzou?" She motioned to the man who moved forward to do her bidding. He waved her away and she was gone. The man was remarkably light with his touch. Perhaps he was sympathetic to Sekki's wound-ridden body, Sekki suspected that he might just be used to it. He deftly cleaned the wounds before re-applying the medication and bandaging up again. That was when he realised that bandaged in his left hand was none other than the Hekisoujo. So that was why his wounds were healing startlingly fast.

"Sekki." Shoukei stood beside the bed holding a tray of food. The man whom Shoukei called Shinzou helped him to the bed. There a spoon was pressed into his right hand and his left was brought to a warm bowl. It was porridge with chunks of meat and vegetables. His mouth watered as he dug into the bowl.

Finally clean and stated, Sekki asked, "Where am I? How long was I out? Where is -"

Shoukei held out a hand, interrupting him before he could continue. "You are in Bright Prosperity Inn which is in Tougoku. You were out for four days." She paused, a grim smile filling her pretty face. " _Youshi_  is out and about. I do not believe we will see much of her soon."

Sekki leaned towards Shoukei, his voice was grave as he spoke. "I must see Youshi. I gave crucial information."

They looked towards Shinzou who tried his best to look disinterested. "Fine fine," Shinzou sighed. "It's a good time for a nap I guess."

Shoukei stood to pull the shades over the window and in the shadows they sat there in silence. Outside there were the sounds of the merchants calling to the passing pedestrians and every so often there was the sound of a bumping wagon. "Kei sounds lively again," She said after some time.

"Where is her-" he caught himself before calling her by her honorific. "- _Youshi_?"

"I have no idea. Except I was instructed to stay here for the moment. It was difficult getting you into the city." Shoukei chuckled. Her laughter spreading into her eyes and for the moment, her face chased the anxious look. "We had to dress you up as a lady. You look like such a fine lady too that one of the gate guards look a liking for you."

He shot her a look. "Not important. Can we get Youshi here?"

"Yes not important," she looked melancholic as she said that. "I believe that we can send a message to her, but I am not certain if we can get her to return since she is investigating something. Jakko."

"Yes," Jakko's reply barely audible.

"Tell her that she must not attack the house, Seikyo is here."

* * *

Yoko slowly stretched her legs. For hours she had squatted on the same branch on the same the tree, just waiting and watching. This was the right house. As Hyouki reported, there was at least one visitor every two to three days. Some came empty-handed with one or two mounts and left well-packed. Others came bearing large boxes and left empty-handed. There had been more than once incident were Yoko had been able to see the contents of the containers: toukis, all of them.

As the man with the well-packed mounts left the house, she signalled. Jinhaku sat nearby on another tree. Both barely visible in the growing darkness. Had she not known that he would be there, she might not have seen him. Now the house was empty, save for the caretaker and the seller.

They jumped over the fence and through the garden. Silently, barely rustling the grass blades, they slipped through the open window. They crept along the silent hallway, carefully choosing their footsteps to minimize the floor's creak. Cautiously, they flanked the sides of the door. There was silence from within.

Yoko considered for the umpteenth time. This was the best way to deal the rebellion in the bud, but why did she had this sinking feeling in her?

With a nod, Jinhaku kicked the door in. Swords unsheathed, she followed. There was a sharp piercing whistle that disorientated her briefly. Yoko felt the cold crawl down her spine as Joyu moved to intercept the sword. Ducking, she dropped into a side roll and eyed her assailant. He was large and burly with muscles the size of her head.

_Figures his weapon is an iron spear._

They circled each other, both ignoring the fight that went on behind them. Then she leapt. Pulling her sword to a downward blow, he spun away, quicker than he appeared to be. He swung. The large heavy weapon hummed in the air. She had anticipated that and quickly sidestepped. She swung again, this time managing to catch his shoulder. He grunted and swiped her feet. She leapt. He caught her by the foot and threw her into the wall.

Yoko lay there. Her lungs screamed for more air. Her heart beat reverberated loudly in her ears. The chair had softened her fall but still every part of her back hurt.

_Get up! Get up!_

She watched him sauntered over. So certain he was of her defeat.

"Hankyo," she whispered, barely audible.

With a snarl, the white blur rose from the shadows. The man took a hesitant step back. The fight behind him was gone. His ally was gone and so had Yoko's. Hankyo sprung onto him, his large paw pressing onto the man's throat while his body's weight forcing the man onto the ground.

Yoko climbed to her feet, pulling herself up with the hell of Hyouki. The man had been very frightened but upon the sight of Yoko as she moved into the moonlight, his body started to tremble. It was not fear that it shook with, it was laughter.

"Tell me, who is sending these touki," her voice was sharp. She motioned to Hankyo to release enough pressure to allow him to talk.

He laughed and laughed till there tears in his eyes. "Left the palace to escape the Queen, but here she is. Again." He choked on his laughter. "H-Heaven has sent her majesty to punish me."

A chill crept down her spine as she heard those words. "Hankyo! Bring him to the light!" Hankyo dragged him and just for the moment that he released his grip on the man, the man pulled a dagger and slit his throat. Blood gushed out of his throat, pooling onto the floor. She moved towards him. Crouching, she examined him. He was none other than the daiboku that she had exiled for being in cahoots with Seikyo.

_What is going on here?_

"Youshi." Jinhaku called, breaking into her thoughts. He vaulted over the balcony railings. Despite his fight, his chase and his return, he was barely out of breath. "We must go now. The soldiers are here."

"Soldiers?"

He looked apologetic as he explained. "Someone saw us fighting in the streets and summoned the soldiers. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." She whipped the blade around, flinging the dirt off it. "And the man?"

"Sorry," he looked dejected. "He escaped as I moved to dodge the soldiers as well."

She could hear the thunder of footsteps on the stairs. She leapt over the railings, this time catching herself onto the nearby branch. With a signal, they scattered.

Yoko thought hard about what little information she had. If the old daiboku was here, then was Seikyo and his lackeys here?

_Is Seikyo pulling the strings here?_

She had exiled most of his lackeys. Koukan had argued for a more severe punishment, Keiki had pleaded for mercy. In the end she had decided to exile most of them save for the very vicious ones. Yoko could almost hear Koukan saying 'I told you so'.

* * *

Shouryu was sitting by the window, enjoying the sea breeze. He had been in Shou Province for the last two weeks. There was nothing quite unique as the pleasure house by the Kyokai. The view was unique; the people were vastly different from the rest of his kingdom.

_Even the wine is-_

"Shouryu-!" Rokuta entered, his hair was bundled up by the black cloth that he wrapped around his head. Shouryu continued sipping his wine, lost in his own thoughts or maybe persistently trying to ignore the kirin. Rokuta stood in front of Shouryu, arms folded with a really cross look on his face.

He sighed. "What is it?"

"It's about Yoko," Rokuta began. He knew that Shouryu was interested in what Yoko did. Compared to the other rulers, Yoko was a fairly exceptional ruler; exceptional referring to different in an unusual way, not amazing. Rather than simply worrying about feeding her citizens, she cared deeply for the welfare for them. Again, welfare here did not limit to the health and hunger, she cared for their well-being, their self-esteem and equality. Instead of just accepting things as it were, she insisted on changing the system radically even if it meant more work for her.

"So what did she do again?" Shouryu asked.

"She left the palace again."

"To En?" he looked at Rokuta with a questioning look. He had not heard of her asking for a traveller's chop.

"Keiki says she is somewhere in Bu Province, but officially, she is in the inner palace."

"Bu Province huh-" Shouryu looked thoughtful at that name.

"Why? What's there?"

Shouryu chuckled and gulped his sake down. "My other mistress. I just remembered that I have not visited her for awhile."

"Here I thought you were thinking of something deeper," Rokuta said hotly.

"Awww- Don't be jealous!" Shouryu reached over to hug Rokuta.

"Hey!" He hated it when Shouryu tried to act like he was babying him even if he knew it was a joke. Rokuta slipped under his arms and backed towards the door. "I got to go anyway. Hakutaku was looking for me." Without waiting for a reply, he hurried away.

Shouryu returned watching the void sea, his thoughts this time turning to Bu Province.

* * *

Yoko paused in the shadow of a building. Carefully scrutinizing her surroundings, she scaled the tree and crept into a room where its patron slept deeply. The sleeping patron did not even rouse as she slinked across and through the door. It was only after she entered her room that she allowed herself to breathe normally again. Yoko could feel the cold metal prick on her neck upon entering.

"Don't move," the voice growled.

Yoko squinted in the dark and faintly made out the silhouette of Rishou. "It's me. Youshi," she hissed.

He hastily lowered his weapon. "Where's Jinhaku?" He asked, scanning the hallway for another figure.

"We got separated." Yoko was too tired to think of anything else. She had spent the last four days camping out in a tree, then the next three hours fighting and evading pursuit. Tiredly, she rolled under the covers beside Shoukei and promptly fell asleep.

_Tomorrow would be a better day._

Or so she thought.

 


	5. Tip of the iceberg

Koukan sat in her majesty's study under the semblance of conferring with Kei-Ou. Opposite him sat Rankei. No longer a young boy, no one save for Yoko referred to him as Kei kei. His brown eyes moved from page to page, carefully inspection the document. Oddly despite many of the hero worthy men that surrounded him as he grew up, his idol was Gyousou, King of Tai. He had gotten to know Gyousou well after he joined Yoko to a secret trip to Tai. The trip was a secret from the minister of Kei, but most of the ministers from En had known about it. In any case, that was hardly of any importance. Rankei had inherited a mix of Kantai and Gyousou's fighting skills, making him almost the most lethal minister in Kei. Not to mention that he had been under Enho's tutelage since young. Had he not have a terrible wanderlust, Yoko would have appointed him as her second-in-charge after Koukan. Now that she was not here, Koukan had roped Rankei into doing much of her work.

"See here," Rankei pointed at a phrase and then at another. "The wording seems rather off."

Koukan pulled the document over. "You're right. I had not noticed it. This minister is quite sneaky."

Rankei looked at him with a puzzled look.

"It's not his first time adding such a clause or phasing." Koukan replied, returning to his document. "Just put it under rejected."

Rankei stifled a yawn, combing his hand through his hair as he chucked the scroll onto the growing pile of rejected. He stood, stretching himself from the long hours of sitting in the office. For a queen, Yoko liked to disappear for periods, Rankei had always wondered why. Now he knew. Sitting in the office for almost the whole day, it felt like the life was being sucked out of him.

"I'm done!" he declared, walking out of the room.

Koukan looked up. Was it displeasure or apprehension? Rankei decided it must be latter. There was no one who would rather sit indoors all day and read those sombre scrolls with their flowery language that beat around the bush- no one.

* * *

"Hey."

Rishou looked up. He had heard Youtashi enter and being familiar with him, he had known that it was Youtashi by his footsteps.

"Your turn already?"

Youtashi nodded, taking the seat that Rishou had just vacated. It was true that their primary duty was to watch over Youshi, but Youtashi's duty was far more than just that. In the beginning of the mission, he had been sent by Jinhaku to find out more about Youshi. He had not gotten much about her; almost nothing in fact. It was like she did not exist. All he had gotten was her movements almost nineteen years ago. She had stayed at a village in Ei Province, a village that had all their people killed by a stray youma. She alone had survived then moved into Shisui. After that, any trace of her disappeared. Most of the townsman knew of her; however they were unwilling to talk about her. Had she been so scary that none of them dared to? Or was it vice versa?

Youtashi was more inclined to the former. There were only a handful of minister that had been any good in the four reigns. The new queen had taken almost all of them. If Youshi was here, then it is likely that either she had been recruited as a shadow minister or Youshi was just plain corrupted like the rest of them.

_If she turns out corrupted, I'll kill her myself._

He glowered at the sleeping figure.

"Don't stare until like that. You look like you could kill someone," Shoukei chuckled. She looked up from the book she was reading. "She's not a bad person."

Youtashi turned to Shoukei. Shoukei had been an unexpected addition to the expanding group. From the way she sits and eats, the way she moves was all that of a poised palace girl. She was either a very high ranking servant or a high ranking lady minister.

Then there was Sekki, the wounded man that tested everyone's ability to act just to get him into the city. When Lady Shoukei had appeared, they had assumed that she was going to play a wife or something since Youshi was too manly to be the wife of such a weak looking man. They were rather stunned when Youshi and Shoukei dressed Sekki as a girl and brought him in as their sister. For good or bad, Sekki had pulled off the female look pretty well.

Yoko sat up, wide awake from her slumber. She had been so tired that they could not rouse her from her sleep. She turned to Youtashi who sat in the corner and asked. "Where's Jinhaku?"

"We should be asking you that," he replied hotly. "He has not returned since he left with you."

Yoko stood pacing the small room. Her three long strides reached the ends of the room. "We were being pursued, so we separated. It took me almost two hours to shake them off. I assumed that since he was better at hiding in the shadows, he would have no trouble." She stopped and spun around to Youtashi. "Send Shinzou to find out where he is now. Probably jail."

Youtashi nodded and left. Yoko pulled the blinds down and sat on the chair beside the bed. "Shoukei pack up. We will be changing inns. Sekki tell me what you find out."

"Well I paid one off one of the newly servants and had them reassigned to Baku province minister's house. Then I infiltrated the minister Gankou's house by pretending one of his newly recruited servants. During the one week period, Seikyou visited Gankou. I took the opportunity to listen in on the conversation."

"I met Rantai at the house yesterday."

"The ex-daiboku? What did he say? Where is he now?"

Yoko nodded. "He killed himself. Do you think Seikyou is pulling the strings?"

"I think that's highly possible."

She looked sharply at Sekki. "You don't believe so?"

"I do. But don't you think it's a bit convenient?"

Yoko sighed. Their investigation seemed to lead to dead ends. No one of a major suspicion turned up even after assigning Hyouki and Hankyo to investigate. Things were not just bad, it was terrible. Coupled with the fact that Jinhaku had now disappeared, she knew that there had been a possibility of this happening. She had expected it to be her not Jinhaku.

"Yes it is- " She stopped and waved a hand to silence them. "Come in."

The door opened and Rishou entered.

_How long had he been listening?_

"Youshi. After Youtashi took over my shift, I had taken the liberty of searching for Jinhaku." He paused as though waiting for response. When neither of them said anything, he continued. "I found him in the cellar of Minister Aoya."

Yoko considered it. It was important to retrieve Jinhaku but it was only because she felt responsible and it was the right thing to do. He held no important information.

_Would they believe them?_

She glanced at Sekki. If they had tortured Sekki for the information, what was stopping them from doing the same for Jinhaku? Time was wasting.

"Rishou. I will deal with that. I want the three of you to assist with moving to a new inn."

"I don't think that requires three people."

"There is something you need to do after you've done that." Yoko pulled out a piece of paper. "This list of names. I need you find as much information on them as you possibly can. Then I need one of you to track a man down. He goes by the name of Boshi. He carries the touki to and fro from a source that I cannot determine. I need you to find that source or sources."

She smiled grimly. "I'm sure you need three people for this."

* * *

Keiki was standing in the gardens watching the fish when one of his shirei had returned to him. The little flying rodent was one of the most useless shirei of the lot. She was not as clever as Hankyo and was not as strong as Jyuusaku. She could not even assist in transporting people like Hyouki. Perhaps her only redeeming quality was that she ran absurdly fast. This made her an excellent messenger if only she would stop getting her recipients wrong.

Bearing this in mind, Keiki was hardly surprised when she came bearing a message that was not intended for him.

"Jakko." Keiki stopped her from running away by grabbing her by the neck. "Tell me what her majesty has been up to."

Her whiskers twitched nervously. Not only had she gotten the recipient wrong again, she was being asked for the very details that Yoko had specifically told her not to mention.

"I was told by her majesty not to mention any of the details to anyone."

"Jakko."

She quivered and writhed in his hands. "Taiho- I was instructed specifically not to tell you."

He sighed a long sigh.

_Just what has her majesty gotten herself into?_

"Very well."

Keiki sagged against the pillar after Jakko had left. There was a heavy weight in his heart as he worried for her. There was nothing more that he could do for her. Except-

"Jyuusaku," he said. His voice was tight, betraying his attempts to hide his anxiety.

"Yes," the disembodied voice replied.

"Go to her majesty."

There was no reply, but Keiki knew that he had left to obey. Now he could only hope that she did not involve herself the same way the rebellion at Takuhou.

* * *

The room had been cleaned out. Jinhaku's men were efficient. In fact they were a little too efficient. Yoko had planned to take the time it took them clear out to finish the conversation with Sekki. So now she had to depend on Shoukei and the shirei to watch out for any eavesdroppers.

"I did not catch all the details that were discussed between them. But I know that they discussed about the touki at length. They said that the supplier, I think his name was Banko, was having difficulty procuring more touki. They were behind about 5,000 pieces behind their targeted amount." Sekki reached over and grabbed Yoko. It was as though he gained a certain kind of enlightenment.

"This is important Youshi," he said, his voice dropping even lower. "They were almost at their target. 5,000 is only a small fraction compared to the amount they have amassed."

She felt her body go still at his words. The silence in the room seemed to smother her. Placing her head between her hands, she forced herself to breathe normally before finally speaking. "A small fraction?" Her voice was scratchy as though she had screamed all her voice out before speaking.

_A small fraction?_

The three words echoed in her mind.

"Youshi." He tugged at her, breaking her from her thoughts. "They plan to move soon."

There was a look of disbelief as she looked up at him. Her clear green eyes mixed with confusion and maybe fear. Sekki had not seen fear in her eyes before. Not even when she led only a hundred men to meet the two battalions. He could hardly fault her for doing so. 5,000 soldiers was enough a cause to worry about, but when you take into consideration that 5,000 was only a small fraction of the actual sum. It could mean 20,000 or 30,000. Or worse yet, 60,000. That amount alone was close enough to rival the King's Army.

Yoko stood abruptly. Her face stared passively out the drawn windows. "They are waiting for you."

Sekki knew a dismissal when he heard one. Bowing, he left the room with Yoko deep in her thoughts. With that amount in consideration, she would have to trash most of her plans. She would have to draw up new plans.

The time has come for her to move.

 


	6. Nosy En-ou

The man contemplated for a moment. Just beyond the rooftops, the autumn sun was beginning to make its way down. The seasons here were slightly warmer than En. Even though they were clearly in the middle of autumn, the leaves on the trees were only beginning to turn red and gold. In En, the leaves would have already begun to fall.

_I could get used to this kind of weather._

The man was too cheerful in spite of his situation. He strolled down the dwindling streets, whistling gaily as he led his suugu down. The suugu stopped, sniffing then air for a bit before jerking around another corner. It was clear to any watching pedestrians that it was in fact the suugu leading the owner and not the other way around.

"Which way Tama?" he asked as the suugu stopped again. He looked up at the inn. The pillars were painted bright red along with the red roof tiles.

_Bright Prosperity? What kind of name is that for an inn?_

"Good evening sir!" the old man bowed as he entered. "A room? We have nice stables for your suugu."

The man chuckled. "I'm looking for a person. About this high with long hair. Maybe tied with a ponytail."

"Ah-" The old man looked crestfallen upon hearing his description. "That lad disappeared last night. This morning his belongings were taken away by the officials. If you are looking for him, you'll probably have better luck at the land ministry." The old man turned around rudely. It was clear that the old man did not want his kind around, regardless on whether he had a suugu or not. He stepped out, thinking on hard on his next actions when he heard the young voice call him.

"Shouryu!"

The man froze before turning to the familiar voice. Rokuta stared at him angrily. His kirin was beginning to wise up to his antics. He smiled brightly at the short kirin as though there was nothing wrong with him being here. "How nice to see you! What are you doing here?"

The kirin scoffed at his reply, "I knew you'd do this. I told my shirei to follow you and report to me the minute you entered Bu Province."

"There really is nothing wrong with me coming to visit my mistress. She's a really beautiful lady; long silky hair with a captivating voice and bright doleful eyes."

"Let me guess. She has red hair with green eyes?" The kirin smirked.

Bringing a kirin here would be close to disastrous. "Well that would be lovely, but she does not." He smiled sweetly, walking towards the brothels with the kirin in tow.

"Shouryu." Rokuta grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. "What are you planning?"

Shouryu chuckled. Placing his large hand on the short kirin, he said gravely, "To visit my mistress."

Rokuta grabbed Shouryu by the neck, forcing him to level with Rokuta's face. "Listen here. If you do something stupid, the most that will happen is that you'll die and I'll die. But what will happen to the commoners? They'll live on their natural life spans either in constant starvation or maybe die from youma attacks or natural disaster. Neither of that is pleasant." He breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath.

"So don't do anything stupid," Rokuta finally finished, releasing his grip.

Shouryu straightened up, pulling his hoh straight. "Don't worry, I won't," he replied. He spun around and continued walking on before stopping in mid-stride. "Take your shirei with you as well. I don't like being followed."

"That's an order."

There was a certain coldness in his last line that Rokuta could not identify and as much as he wanted, he could not defy an order given by his master.

* * *

Rankei spun around, the blade narrowly missed him. Flipping back, he pulled his sword forward to block the oncoming blow. Sparks flew as the blades collided. His blade flew from his hand and fell with a clatter to the corner of the room. Without losing a beat, Rankei surged forward using his speed as the advantage to close in for a barehanded blow. Kantai drew back but not fast enough. As he stumbled backwards, he attempted sweep-kicked Rankei who dodged forward, slipping through Kantai's defences. He pulled Kantai's sword arm, smashing heavily into it. Kantai winced, his grip loosing on his sword and it too fell. Before Kantai could react, Rankei had thrown a left-handed blow then spun, delivering a hook kick that connected firmly. Kantai flew several metres before coming to a stop.

"I give," Kantai grunted as he got up.

Rankei laughed as he moved to retrieve his sword. Rankei's skill had improved by leaps and bounds. Soon, he would be forced to take Rankei seriously while dueling. With Gyousou coaching Rankei, Kantai was hardly surprised that his skills were becoming rather vicious. He too had sparred Gyousou on several instances before. Gyousou's techniques were more focused on lethality rather than grace. Kantai was hardly surprised to find that out for before Gyousou's predecessor, Tai had been embroiled in a long civil war.

"What do you plan on doing now?" Kantai asked.

Rankei looked askance at Kantai, "Are you asking me if I'm going to look for Her Majesty?" He sheathed his sword, waiting for Kantai to reply. "Because I'm not," he continued when Kantai did not.

"Going to see my mistress. Promised her that I would drop by," he smiled though there was an inscrutable expression when he said that.

"Wait!" Kantai yelled. Grabbing Rankei, he pushed Rankei around to face him. "Her Majesty might be in danger and you don't even care? She raised you!"

Rankei brushed Kantai's hand away. "It doesn't change a thing. I am not her son or her subject. I am merely someone she knows." He marched out of the room angrily, not even giving a last glance.

* * *

The kirin stood at the edge of the garden, watching the leaves sway in the wind. So motionless he was that he could have been mistaken for a statue. His alabaster skin and pale blonde hair almost melted into the marble pillars that he stood beside. He was contemplating about a lot of things. For starters, the situation with the ministers seemed to have cleared up. They were a lot more compliant to his master's demands as they were before. They also had stopped scoffing at her ignorance at certain things, though it was mostly because she was no longer as ignorant as she was before. There was a sense of pride as he thought of that. She had grown into a very different person that she had been previously. When he had first laid eyes on her, he knew that Yoko was very similar to her predecessor. They seemed to have the same faults and the same wants, but Yoko unlike her predecessor had learnt the ability to battle with herself.

Of course, this was not the primary issue on his mind. He stared deeply into the pond as though trying to see through the ground and through the unkai that lay around the palace. Keiki could not shake the feeling of dread. He worried terribly for his master.

He did at least worry for a good cause and he was not the only one that was worried. It was clear that there was a disquieting feeling among the ministers that Yoko had picked out herself. There had been no word since a week ago. Though she had been out of the palace for awhile, she had often sent regular updates whether it was through the kijyuu that Koukan had presented her or through his shirei.

Keiki was torn between staying in the palace and going to Bu Province to find his master. Yoko had clearly told Hyouki that Keiki was not to come for doing so would endanger her. That would be a command. Going so would be to disobey her. Keiki clenched his jaws, his delicate hands balling into tight fists. He must go, he knew he must.

 


	7. Where's Yoko?

There had been no news of Yoko. Rather than no news, it seemed that Bu Province and Tougoku had absolutely no news. There was usually the underlying politics within the provinces and cities, but there was absolutely nothing here in Tougoku or even Bu Province as a whole. There was no unsaid resentment or unhappiness. It seemed that the people here were perfectly happy. Then why on earth was there an incredible amount of toki here?

Shouryu puzzled over it as he drank his wine. It seemed like a bad situation for Yoko. Where was she anyway?

He looked up and caught the sight of a very familiar back. Chucking some coins on the table for his wine, he weaved his way through the bustling crowd, chasing after the man. He turned into an alley. Shouryu leapt back, narrowly dodging the sword.

"Whoa!" He spun away. His assailant was probably better than an average thug, but by not much. Shouryu moved half a step, the blade missing him. Grabbing the hand at the hilt, Shouryu stilled his assailant's movements. "Calm down," he said, gazing sternly into Sekki's eyes.

Sekki nearly dropped the blade when he realized that the man he had attacked was none other than En-Ou. "En-"

Shouryu quickly clapped over his mouth before he could finish his word. Shouryu whistled and from behind, his Suugu came. Hoisting Sekki on, they spun away high into the air.

A silence settled over them as Sekki struggled to keep his grip on the suugu. His teeth chattered incessantly as the cold sunk deep into him. It was true that Kei's autumns were mild, but no matter how mild they were, at the speed the suugu flew it made the mildest wind feel like a cutting blade.

"Where is Kei-Ou?" Shouryu asked. They had landed in a clearing in the middle of nowhere. Unlike Sekki, Shouryu had been largely unaffected by the wind. He was used to flying on the back of his suugu in colder seasons. Sekki pulled the hekisoujo out onto his hands. It was only until a slow warmth filled his chilled body that Sekki could finally stop shivering.

"Where is Kei-Ou?" Shouryu asked again.

Sekki shook his head. "When we changed inns, her majesty had gone to rescue someone. Since then it had been a week. There has been no news."

"Do you know where she went?"

"We know where she was supposed to go. But after a few days of no news, we sent someone to check the location out." Sekki sighed as he remembered what happened. It was as though there had been nothing out of the ordinary for the last one month; no one trying to break in, not even new captives – nothing. Given the state of things, there had been hardly anything he could do besides attempt to pick up new information by eavesdropping. Shoukei had done most of the footwork by using her womanly charms. He too had not seen even the back of Shoukei after they had separated to find her majesty.

Shouryu mused on what little information Sekki had provided. It seemed that the fastest way to find out anything was through the tiger's mouth. He leapt onto Tama's back.

"Let's go."

"Where to?"

"Through the tiger's mouth," he chuckled.

* * *

Rankei flipped into the courtyard. The moon was high but blanketed by thick clouds. His footsteps made no sound as he crossed the courtyard. Trained in the arts of stealth by Gyousou, it was hardly surprising that no one noticed his presence until he placed his hand onto the lady's small shoulder. She looked back in shocked, her face relaxing with relief upon the sight of him. She had expected him though not so early and not unnoticed. He gazed at her intently, waiting for what she had summoned him for.

The room was dark and unlit. There was no one but her in the room. Though the seat beside her was empty and clearly put out meant for him, Rankei chose to stand. It would be easier to hide or escape should his presence be noticed.

Perhaps she was used to his preferences for she did not seem to ask him to.

"We are 5,000 short," he finally said.

"I know."

He looked at her with a questioning look at her reply.

"We can leave it. 5000 won't be that big a difference. More importantly, she has already begun to move." She sighed.

"So what's the next plan? If her majesty's starting to move, then we cannot afford to dally."

She passed him a tiny scroll that she had hidden in her hoh. "Give Boshi this and assist him."

Rankei nodded. Taking the scroll, he leapt out of the window and disappeared into the night.

* * *

"Just so you know, you're supposed to be my younger brother, Akayu and I'm Endori," Shouryu whispered.

Sekki had not really believed the rumours about En-Ou until today. Shouryu had brazenly walked into the servant's courtyard asking for a job. He begged for steward to allow his brother and him to stay and work and without even blinking an eye, he had came up with a sad story on how they had lost everything. No land, no possession, the only way they had to survive was to find a job. However there were not many shops that would take two siblings without any experience or any recommendations, so they had come to the great Minister Aoya's house to beg for a job after hearing how great and benevolent he was.

Sekki had not really expected the steward to buy the story, but maybe there was something in En-Ou's tone that made people want to believe him. So here they were.

There had been one point of time where he had shovelled waste out of the kijyuu stables but he never expected that he would be doing it beside a king. Sekki cast a dubious glance at Shouryu. The king of En strolled down the stables, whistling as he shovelled the waste into the buckets for Sekki to remove. He looked like he was born into this rather than being a king for over five hundred years.

"Endori!"

Shouryu turned to the direction of the voice. He saw the steward beckoning him.

"Yes sir?" he bowed.

"We're a little short on cleaning crew for the basements so you'll have to follow them." The steward pointed and left. To the right of the courtyard was a mangy group of servants. None of them looked pleased to be assigned as the basement cleaners, in fact most looked rather apprehensive.

"Is there a reason why everyone looks so scared?" Shouryu leaned in to the man nearest to him. The man looked at him startled.

"Oh. You're that siblings."

Shouryu nodded and looked expectantly at the man. He seemed like a chatty sort of man.

"Well-" the man started, casting a furtive glance at the others. "They say there's a ghost in the cellar."

"A ghost?"

The man nodded and continued. "At night, the guards say you can hear it moaning. I don't know how true it is, but they say no matter how many times they search for the sound, they cannot find it."

_Could it be Yoko?_

A small hope lit in Shouryu's chest. He had planned to go to another minister's house if they still could not find anything about her. Knowing she was there but probably injured was better than no news.

* * *

Rankei tapped on the large wooden gate.

"Winter swallows fly into the sky."

"They will land when summer is right," Rankei replied.

The gate opened a cracked and Rankei slipped in. A greying man stood before him. His eyes were thin to the point of almost being hidden.

"Boshi," he nodded at the old man as he passed him the scroll.

"What's this?"

Rankei shrugged. "Only told to assist you."

Boshi stared at him with pursed lips. "We're going to bring the army."

"So it's beginning," Rankei said with an indecipherable smile on his face.

"Go to Hokyuu and rouse them. I will go to Bakushou," Boshi turned and left.

Outside, the lonesome silvery orb hung heavily in the dusky sky. The smell of incoming rain and the end of autumn hovered in the air. Rankei paused to ponder on his reasons and her reasons for doing this.

_Was there no better way?_

Soon, there will be the smell of blood in the air. He could feel a chill run down his spine as he thought of it. Whether it was from fear or anticipation, Rankei could not tell.


	8. The Ring leader, the spy and the kirin

She perused through the various records. The armies were ready and they were lead by the best possible. Everything had fallen in place as she had planned, except for her majesty. Her majesty should have taken the bait and rode out or at least sent out one of her generals, but she had not done anything. Somehow she had this nagging feeling that there was more than just her majesty that was wrong with her plan.

The candle dimmed as it begun to splutter out. She had not noticed the time passing. It was almost time for him to come. There was the slightest footfalls behind the curtains. Looking up, her purple eyes met into the brown eyes of Rankei.

"Hello Keikei."

He grunted unhappily at that name. "You know only her majesty is allowed to call me that."

She smiled. "I brought you up as well. Am I not allowed as well?"

"We had this conversation before," he said, sliding into the chair opposite her. "Why did you call me back anyway? I thought you wanted me to lead the armies?"

"Well we have a problem. Yoko is not moving and I have no idea why. I need you to find her and tell her that there is an army of 50,000 people sitting on her doorstep."

"I thought we had more than that-"

She waved him off. "Just go."

"Yes yes, my lady." He bowed and was off.

* * *

Shoryu took a while to get adjusted to the dim lighting. The numerous torches that they carried failed to properly illuminate the basement. There was an eerie feeling in the basement. There might have been really nothing in the basement after all, except the over-active imaginations of the ones working here. He would be hardly surprised if that was the truth. He was, however, not going to discount the fact that there may actually be something. Like they say, where there's smoke, there's fire.

Quietly without anyone realizing, Shoryu had managed to leave the tightly clustered group. The rest of the dungeons were dank and dark. He had no idea why basements were so bad in a minister's house in Kei none the less. Mentally, he noted to bring it up to Yoko when he finally found her. That is, unless she is really here and if she was, she would definitely already know how bad the dungeons were in her kingdom.

The hallway seemed to stretch out endlessly. There was no way of telling how long it truly was with the light huddling close to its source. It almost seemed that the darkness was eating away at the light. He must have walked for hours and was about to give up when he heard the soft clank of chains and the almost inaudible moan. He could not really understand at its first call but as he moved closer to it and paid more attention to it, it seemed that his universal immortal translator had kicked in. All it said was two words.

_Save me._

He inched forward, his hand trailing the rough granite walls. Heart pounding, fearful of what he would find he came into view of the cell. Shoryu breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the figure had dark grey hair and was a man, gaunt and haggard. He was considerably clean and quite unlike what Shoryu's imagination had conjured up. The man stood abruptly causing his chains to clang.

"Who are you?" Shoryu asked futilely for upon asking, the man opened his mouth to show the stump of where his tongue had been.

_Why was there a prisoner so deep in the dungeons?_

Before Shoryu could turn to look at the other cells, the man grabbed onto his sleeve, moaning and shaking the bars.

_Save me._

He was not very sure if the man was truly convicted for something heinous. The man moaned again as though knowing what went through Shoryu's mind.

_Save me and I'll tell you everything._

Shoryu looked thoughtfully at the man. In the light of the lack of any information, something might be better than nothing. His hard brown eyes catching the gaze of the man.

"What do you know that can benefit me?"

The man smiled or smirked, Shoryu could not quite tell.

_I know you are looking for Sekishi and you'll never get her unless you save me._

* * *

The air was dank. The weak autumn light wheezed through the small high up window though it could not quite reach the bottom of the cellar. Much of the cell was left in the dim darkness and the piercing cold. The small rats nearby did not dare to stray to him though he sat there so still that he could have almost been mistaken for a statue. He could see small puffs of mist as he breathed. Maybe it was because the cell was located further down. Small and narrow but with a high ceiling, Keiki could almost imagine that the cell was several feet below ground. The shackles on his limbs weighed him down, but it was not the physical weight of it that bound it. Rather it was the inscriptions on it that bound him down. His hand unconsciously moved to where his horn would have been in his beast form.

The small red stone that bound him gave him a peculiar feeling. There was a lack of power and try as he might, he could not even summon a single shirei. He sighed. There was still him. Perhaps he might just be able to summon one. Leaning forward, he eagerly moved to inspect the motionless body in front of him. There was no sign of life. Not yet at least. The body was clearly breathing, slow, shallow and seemingly painful breaths.

_Wake up soon._

Keiki brushed the boy's stray hair from his face. The fate of two nations may fall squarely on their shoulders. He pursed his lips as he gazed down at the young boy. Her majesty had been right, though he had gone about a roundabout way to defy her orders; his current position certainly had placed her in a much more perilous position.

_I must apologize to her when I see her. She must be furious now. I promised to always trust her in spite of that I still did not trust her enough._

The boy's eyes fluttered open. His green eyes roaming his surroundings as they slowly adjusted to the dim light.

"Are you awake?" came the stoic voice from his left.

He tilted his head to see Keiki in shackles. "Keiki?" He raised a heavy arm to his forehead. It was the strange bead tied to his head: a mirror of Keiki's. "Who? What?"

He tried to think on how he got here but all he drew was a blank.

"Enki, can you call your shirei?"

He shook his head.

"It's that bead again," Enki muttered. "What the hell is wrong with your country? Don't they know it's against the heaven's mandate to take another country's kirin?"

Keiki stared down at his wrists, utterly silent. He was now not only endangering his master but the fate of another country. Enki sighed.

His master would come for him. Enki knew of that without a slightest uncertainty.

* * *

"There is an ARMY out there, General! Why are we not moving?" they demanded. When they heard that Sekishi had joined the rebels in order to regain control of her country, their respect for her as a warrior queen rose tremendously. She was a queen unafraid to bleed for the throne and knew exactly what it meant to have the throne. Yet here with more than 50,000 people practically sitting outside in the province of Bu for everyone to see that they were clearly a rebel army, the queen that they respected seemed to sit on her thumbs. Had the rule of twenty years softened her warrior edge? During the short twenty years, she had become the queen of many firsts: the queen to begin establishing some sort of "international" assistance, assisting Tai-ou to regain his country, etc. They refused to believe that she had been softened. It was just the wait while an enemy army sat just right outside was so maddening.

Kantai took a step back from the angry mob. He too was frustrated. Without orders, he would simply be taking advantage of Yoko's absence. Yoko's last orders were to prepare the army. Now it seemed that she had done it too hastily. The soldiers were anxious to get on the way, maybe the term thirsty for blood would have been a better fit than anxious.

"Silence!" Kantai's voice rang clear and sharp.

It was not the time to be filled with doubts about his queen. He shook his head and said, "I have no idea what the Queen is thinking, but I'm certain that there is a reason why she has not sent us out. She is the queen who joined the rebels to weed out the corrupt. She is the queen who led the armies to take down the rebel minister of law. Is there really a need to doubt her? No. All she asks is that we prepare to set out when she calls for us. So prepare. I want to see all of you stripped down in sweat from training by the end of today."

He turned and headed towards the inner palace. Keiki would know better what she was thinking.

Koshou saw Kantai approaching from a distance. The only people he had seen all week had been Enho and Koukan.

"Kantai-"

"Koshou. I need to see Kei taiho."

"He is not here. He has not been for the whole of this week."

Kantai looked confused. "Where did he go?"

"I believe he went to find her majesty."

"For a whole week? Did he not leave word?"

"Well-" Koshou started. "About that. He said he was not going to  _fetch_  her majesty but rather  _assist_  her. He told me to use those words specifically."

Kantai stifled an inaudible groan at the realization of Koshou's words. "He somehow defied her order." Now Kantai knew without a doubt that there was something had gone wrong.

* * *

"En- Elder brother-?" Sekki looked up. His eyes widened at the large wrapped package across Shoryu's shoulder. He had stayed up all night to wait for Shoryu after he heard from the cleaning crew that Shoryu had gone missing.

"Quickly," Shoryu said, wasting no time for explanations, he threw a cloak at Sekki and hopped out of the window that he came from. Tama was waiting for them at the shadowy corner of the courtyard.

"Is that-" Sekki's words were cut off when he was forced to clench his teeth as Tama sped into the air. They raced through the air at a furious rate as though someone was chasing them. Sekki looked back cautiously to check if they were indeed being pursued. The sky was empty.

It was only when the sun had begun to rise that Shoryu finally slowed their pace and stopped at a small village. The large package was left on the back of Tama as they walked slowly into the village. Shoryu greeted them with a large smile. Even with his cheerful attitude, Sekki would tell he was exhausted. His acting was half-hearted at best and dark lines circled his eyes on his ageless face.

"-just a place to rest and some food." Managing to catch the last bit of the conversation, Sekki returned his attention to at hand. Shoryu motioned to Sekki for some relevance to their conversation as he passed the village elder a small sum of money. It was not very much, but probably much more than what the villagers would see after working for a year. "We would just like some privacy. We travelled all the way from Sei province to be in time for our sister's wedding." Shoryu chatted away with the village elder as the village elder showed them to their rooms.

_This man is a natural._

It was good that this man was currently their ally. There was no telling how long it would have taken him to source for information the way Shoryu was doing.

"Oh, I heard it's really peaceful in Bu Province. I'm glad my sister is marrying that man after all," Shoryu chuckled.

The village elder face stilled at his words. "I don't think it's that peaceful," he muttered.

"Wha-"

"Here's your room." The village elder ushered them into a decently sized room. Pulling the futons out, he hastily backed out. "Someone will bring you food when you wake. There is water by the well."

And the man was gone. "That was quick," Sekki could not help but comment.

"Agreed."

Shoryu turned to the package. He pulled the cloth off to unravel a man. The man was so thin and emaciated that it didn't seem logically possible on how he was still alive.

"I have kept my promise now tell us what you know."

Sekki glanced at Shoryu in surprise. He had somehow guessed that must have been what it was. He turned back at the man. There was something oddly familiar about him but he could not put his finger on it. The man made some guttural moans as though saying something.

"En-" Shoryu quickly clamped his mouth before Sekki could get the last syllable out. He quickly knocked the man out before turning to Sekki.

"Yoko has been taken to the big castle but it seems that they had given her something to drink or eat. I'm not sure if we can get her out in time."

"You understood him?"

Shoryu nodded. "We don't have much time left. There is an army readying to march on the edge of Bu province. My guess is that they were trying to draw Yoko out and sending in the real army to attack the Kinpa palace. Looks like something went wrong."

Sekki blinked.

But he went on. "This has become a full-fledged rebellion. What's stranger is that neither Keiki nor Daishiba has moved. Did Yoko give them some orders? We can assume that she has but was not able to carry it all the way due to unexpected circumstances."

Shoryu turned to Sekki. His face was impassive and empty of emotions. "Would you rather go and save her or summon the Daishiba and kirin? We do not have the manpower nor the resources to do both. You can only pick one."

He hesitated. There would be no kingdom without the queen, no queen without a kingdom. "Save her majesty." Sekki heard himself finally saying in a thin voice.

 


	9. That's not Yoko

More than the eye could see, Kantai could see the rows and rows of soldiers lined just within the borders Bu Province. There was the buzz of fear and alarm in the capital city, people running to the outskirts, people staying in their houses. In Gyouten, it almost appeared to be a ghost town. Those that had guts had sought out the land ministries to sign up for conscription, those that did not had shut themselves in.

"What do you want us to do, sir?"

Kantai glanced back to the speaker. The speaker was Gaishin who looked at him with an anxious look. They both were soldiers who had been through rebellions. They knew that this situation was anything but good. The queen was missing, the kirin was missing and nothing could move the king's army but the queen. Kantai sighed and rubbed his temples. Where was Kei-Ou?

"Daishiba-" the voice called out though was quickly interrupted. Rankei pushed the man aside.

"Kantai! Where is Kei-ou?" he demanded. Pointing to the direction of Bu Province, Rankei said, "There must be over 50,000 people out there and they're clearly going to attack. Why aren't you doing anything?"

"Where are your manners, Rankei?" Gaishin gazed at him. Raneki caught himself just as he was about to apologize.

"I'm not her subject so it does not make me your subordinate nor your superior. Well? Why aren't you going to do anything? If you can't move the king's army, surely you can move the provincial army!"

Gaishin scoffed at the young boy. "Didn't you know that if he moved the army, the palace would be open to attacks? I'm sure you know that at least."

"It won't matter. There's the king's army. The very least that they can do without the queen's permission is to defend the palace. Isn't that its whole purpose to begin with?"

Kantai clapped his hands onto their backs before either could reply. "Good ideas. We'll use both!" He walked off laughing. "Call my generals, Toshin."

The young soldier that Rankei had pushed aside, bowed and quickly headed towards the barracks.

"He's not serious, is he?" Gaishin and Rankei turned to stare at each other with a dumbfounded look.

* * *

"Shoukei," Sekki called out as he entered the room. He had not seen her before he was whisked away by En-Ou and even before that, she had left to find Kei-Ou.

Shoukei was sitting by the window when he entered. The three men that had followed Jinhaku was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they were out looking for Jinhaku as well, Sekki could not be very certain. She looked well though tired. Circles rimmed her purple eyes, her eyebrows arching into disbelief as she saw the figure standing behind him. Quickly, she got up and bowed.

"What has brought you here?" she asked politely. Has Yoko disappearance been known to so many people?

"The smell of salt in the air and the void seas," Shouryu chuckled. "Well-" he heaved himself onto the other chair, wincing as he did. It had been awhile since he sat in a medium grade inn. The chairs were hard but sturdy – typical of a medium class inn. "Did you find anything?" he continued after his momentarily pause.

She shook her head.

"We have received information that she is at the castle in Bakushou. We are heading there; pick her up and go back to summon the king's army. Do you know what the situation is there now? Do you have any idea why they are doing this?" Shouryu had brooded over it and could not quite find a plausible answer. "Yoko's rule has been relatively stable despite the few rebellions. There does not seem to be any dissatisfaction here."

Shoukei paused, choosing her words carefully before speaking. "There is a 50,000 strong army on the edge of province. Roughly half of them are air cavalry. Most of them are soldiers employed by the ministers of Bu Province. Previously, Bu Province was a popular place to invest with among the ministers. Now that the other provinces are doing better, they have moved away from Bu Province and into Baku Province. They believe that since her majesty prefers Baku Province people, it'd hold through for the province. Since then, the Baku Province has improved greatly."

"I see. That would make sense in an odd way."

Shouryu stood up. Turning to Sekki, he said. "Let's be on our way then. We can't waste anymore time."

"Then I'm coming with you." Shoukei jerked her chin out defiantly, glaring at the two men.

"Shoukei-" Sekki started.

"Stop." She rose her hand to stop Sekki. "I will go. There is nothing you can say to dissuade me."

The two men sighed. The sound of resignation echoing in his voice, Shouryu said, "It'd be dangerous. Yoko will kill me."

She smiled softly, her eyes taking on a gazed look as though recalling something. "Not before she kills me."

"Well do you have a kijyuu?"

Nodding, Shoukei pointed at the stables. "She left her kijyuu behind."

* * *

Rokuta paced the cell. The cell not much of a cell to be honest. It was dark and dank, yes. However it was filled with relative comforts, apart from the rats. The beds provided for them looked out of place after Rokuta had angrily yelled at the guards.

He was worried for his kingdom. Rokuta could not comprehend how they would take another kingdom's krin. Regardless whether they released him only, he admitted privately that he could not leave Keiki behind. Rokuta turned to look at Keiki.

Keiki had not moved much from his spot, choosing to sit cross legged in the corner as though meditating. Though he looked peaceful, Rokuta could see the dark lines that rimmed his closed eyes. He probably mirrored Keiki for much of the nights had been sleepless. Rokuta slumped beside the tall kirin, a sigh escaping his lips as he leaned onto the cold wall.

"Keiki," he said.

"Yes."

"Do you think we'll ever get out?"

"Yes."

"What makes you think so?"

Keiki sighed, opening his violet eyes to look at the short kirin. "Her majesty is not so weak to lose to them and neither is your king."

Rokuta grunted in agreement with his statement except he could not help but think that they had been here for so long, almost a month if he counted right. "Hey Keiki," he grabbed the kirin's arm excitedly. "I just thought of this."

Jabbing at the red thread that looped around their heads, Rokuta continued excitedly, "If we broke the red threads at the same time, we should be fine. If one of us isn't, then we can order our shirei to carry the other. Brilliant right!?"

Keiki's eyes slid to someone behind Rokuta. A man that barely looked like a man stood outside the cell. He smiled amusedly, "It might work. Except the young girl that has her head bound with the same thread would not be. I'm sure you won't want to risk a poor,  _innocent_ life, now would you?" His smile barely reached his grey eyes as he spoke. He was neither muscular or slight but he held an air about him that Keiki knew he was telling nothing but the truth and would not hesitate to follow through with his words.

"Who are you?" Keiki demanded. "How dare you withhold the holy kirin of Kei?"

"I am nobody." The man chuckled. "My sweet Keiki. Don't worry. Your dear queen knows you two are here."

Keiki frowned at his words; but before he could speak Rokuta had rushed to the man, reaching for him, shouting. "What do you mean by that!? Why would she do nothing if she knew we were here!?"

The man moved back, Rokuta's arms just brushing his hoh as he did. He flung his head back and laughed. "You'll see. Till then," he smiled. This time, his eyes filled with mirth. "Enjoy your stay."

The two kirins watch the man's back, listening to his footsteps echo into silence.

"I think we are in so much trouble," said Enki. "Sooo much trouble."

* * *

The maids roused her just before dawn. Quickly without even needing her to move a finger, they bathed her and dressed her. The large, heavy headpiece weighed her head down. Yoko felt like she became stupid whenever she wore that headpiece. It was like she could barely put coherent sentences together when she wore the headpiece, so she sat there in the chair that the maids had set her on and watched the sun rise and set.

* * *

Just outside Bu Province, Rankei enjoying a short peaceful moment before the others woke. They had been on a back-breaking pace to reach Bu Province and they had just fallen asleep roughly a few hours ago. The small bird fluttered down onto Rankei, pecking his ear. There was a small slip of paper tied around its leg. All the paper said was, "Be there blue palace, now."

He got up, shaking Kantai he said, "I have to go. My mistress calls me."

"Wah?" Kantai sat up, eyes still heavy from sleep. "Where are you going?"

"To my mistress," he swung onto the saddle of his kijyuu and leapt into the air.

* * *

It was almost dusk when they reached the castle. The dying sunlight bathed the castle with its red glow, making it glow with a brilliance. Shouryu nodded to the two of them. During their trip, they had decided that splitting into two groups would be better. Shoukei with Shouryu would check the rooms while Sekki would check the grounds and the basements. Sekki nodded and scampered off as they entered the area.

"Shoukei," Shouryu called out as they entered. "Do you think-"

A man hurried to Shoukei. "Lady Shoukei! We were not informed of your arrival!" He turned to the two standing behind him. "Hurry up!"

"Nice to mean you, Lady Shoukei!" They bowed deeply. "Please follow us! Lord Aoya is waiting for you."

Wordlessly the duo followed the servants into a large and well decorated hall. Another man hurried in. He wore expensive and layered hoh that indicated his rank. "Lady Shoukei." He bowed as deeply as Yoko's edict would allow. "It is good for your gracious to grace these bare halls of mine. Your beauty is as radiant as ever." The man that spoke was plump with a receding hairline.

Shoukei waved her hand dismissively. "Enough of the flowery talk, Minister Aoya." She sat down in the main chair, an air of authority as she gazed at the man.

"We captured a man-" Minster Aoya motioned to his servants. The man they had captured was Sekki. Shoukei was hardly surprised. Sekki had never been much of a military man and such skills like sneaking in were largely lost on him. "Would you like us to do the same treatment as we did for the last few?"

"Just release-" she paused as the words sank in. "Last few?" she whipped around, a fierce look taking over. "What last few-?"

"Well-" the man fell onto the ground in his haste to beg for forgiveness. "Jinhaku- He-"

"Where is he?" Her voice now rising in level as her patience wore thin.

"Here."They spun around to see the slight build man at the entrance. He was not as scary as Sekki had described to him though there was a mild resemblance in his demeanor.

"Hello, Lady Shoukei." He smiled but there was no warmth in his smile. "I have a present for you. Something better to make up for the missing toukis. A living, breathing doll." He pulled from behind the door. Yoko stood there wordlessly, gazed blankly at nothing in particular.

"Isn't it fantastic?" He chuckled. "Now we don't even need to fight with the royal army. We can just waltz in with the grace of the queen." He stroked Yoko's face.

"She listens to every word I say too. Here, look at this." He pointed to the chair on his left. "Sit."

Shoukei and Shouryu watched appalled as Yoko obediently walked to pointed chair and sat down in it. Yoko would hated the ceremonial headpiece had often complained about it, now wore not just a portion of it but the full ceremonial headpiece without complain, without fidgeting. Her hands folded onto her lap, her head held high. It was a model representation of a noble queen, something Yoko had not once done since her enthronement.

"What have you done?" Shouryu broke the silence that fell upon them.

Jinhaku threw his head back and laughed. "Why don't you ask the girl that stands beside you? She's the mastermind. I only carried it out." He patted Yoko's hair, gazing at her lovingly. "The will of heaven sits here and she listens to me only."

He bent down and whispered to Yoko.

"Guards, throw them into prison." Yoko said; her voice devoid of any emotion though her body went through the motions.

"Yoko!" Shoukei screamed, trying to push the guards that came to apprehend them. "Yoko!"

Shouryu had drawn his sword and had slain two of the guards. "Wake up, Yoko! If you throw me into prison, you'll be breaking the heaven's mandate. I am En-ou!"

The man called Jinhaku stared Shouryu thoughtfully. "That is true. If she dies, my rule will die faster than it even started. Leave him, but capture the other two."

Shouryu pulled Shoukei towards him but was restrained by another three more guards. "En-ou!" Shoukei turned to look at him as they pushed her out of the room.

"Save the queen! En-ou!" And they were gone.


	10. Heaven's Will

Yoko sat motionlessly in the growingly dark room. There was some discomfort in her heart but for what, she could not really determine. The days she had passed were hazy and she knew that there was something wrong, but Yoko found herself barely able to concentrate to figure what or why. Was it the heavy headdress? She tried to reach up to remove it and found herself unable to. All she could was to sit there motionlessly.

' _Why?_ ' She asked herself.

But as she asked herself that question, she began to forget what her question was. Yoko struggled to recall what she had been doing before she came here. It was night when she arrived at the building. It had been as though they had expected her. The door burst opened, breaking her thoughts and strode in was Jinhaku with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

_Jinhaku!_

"That was marvelous!" He spun around happily, still full of excitement from the day's events. Outside, Yoko could hear joyous merrymaking as the door swung closed. "Look at me," he said.

Yoko found she could not resist his command. "My little heaven's will." He smiled. "Don't worry, you won't need to think of anything." He patted her face with a smug smile on his face.

_Heaven's will?_

The door swung open, the sounds of the singing could be heard again. "Jin! They're calling for you! Come on!"

"Oh yes!" he turned around. With Yoko in the listening to his every command, there was no need to worry whether she would try to escape. How will want escape if she could not even resist the sound of his voice literally. "Ready yourself for bed, tomorrow we'll have a big big day!" He commanded as he shut the door.

There was the faintest sigh of relief to be out of his presence. Yoko will have to find a way to resist him soon or her kingdom will crumble. Unable to resist the maids or his command, Yoko sat there while they undressed her and tucked her into bed.

_Not yet._

She had to sleep now. He commanded it so. Maybe it was the sight of Shouryu or Shoukei and for the brief moment she was able to whisper. "Tell Shouryu."

* * *

Shoukei would not go quietly. As the guards dragged her into the dungeons, she screamed, kicking, biting. Behind her quietly following was Sekki. Head dipped forward, he had resigned himself to being caught and jailed the day Yoko had send him the letter. He had just finished his finals for his grade in Daigaku and found the letter stamped with a turquoise wax. Guessing who it was not difficult for those who knew her majesty personally, a sense of alarm and a slow creeping chill rose in him as he broke the seal.

He had worked through disabling ministers before they even knew her majesty had already turned to their actions. Together with the stealthy efforts of Rankei and him along with Yoko's unwavering trust in her inner circle, they had managed to put down many of the corrupt ministers with little suspicion. However they had least expected Shoukei to be the mastermind this time. Perhaps it was good that Yoko was not really herself. Even for Sekki who was not close to Shoukei, to find out the truth had shaken him. Or was there a clue that he had missed? Sekki reviewed the case again in his mind.

Her majesty had noticed an alarming amount of people carrying arms in Bu, out of which, she had determined more than half were tokis. The shirei reported that there were more tokis in the storage of a minister and with the assistance of Rou Hansei, they managed to plot several routes that moved the tokis. Rou then presented himself as one of the smugglers to infiltrate the route. That was when the actual amount of tokis became clearer. There were many suspects on who was the mastermind and without any better way, Sekki had infiltrated one of the main ministers. That was when things took for the worse.

Sekki sank cross-legged on the cold floor as the guards swung the metal door close. Tonight would be a cold and quiet night. Tomorrow that's when everything will go to hell.

Opposite him, he could still see Shoukei screaming and rattling the bars. Soon she would find out that it would be useless. His motionless body caught her attention.

"How can you just sit there? Aren't you worried?" Her voice was sharp and mildly hoarse from her screaming.

"Would screaming accomplish anything? Would worrying accomplish anything?" He turned from her, unwilling to see her. He would have to think about her position before he could decide anything.

* * *

Shouryu was forced to give up trying to stay in the castle. Everything had collapsed. He had come to Kei to track the strange movement of toki only to find out that there's some big conspiracy brewing in Kei. To stay would chance a possibility of breaking his heaven's mandate. Not to mention Yoko was not in any position to seek help from him. Where was Keiki? Shouldn't the kirin have known that his queen was in trouble? Shouryu sighed, wishing that he had not been so hardheaded in chasing Rokuta away and making him take his shirei away. How he wished that he had a shirei now.

The moon was high in the sky when he finally reached the tree that he had left Tama and that strange man he rescued. The man smirked at him.

"Did you find her?" the man asked with his throaty moans. He laughed with Shouryu decided not to reply. "She did not act the way you expected. Hehehe. I can tell you how to free her."

Shouryu whipped around to stare at the gaunt old man in shock. "But it comes with a price," the old man smiled.

"I suppose you were in this whole conspiracy right until they found someone better and decided to do off with you." Shouryu looked evenly into man's dark grey eyes. He had been wrong about that man the whole time. He was not an old man, not one bit. Perhaps forty with dark grey hair, perhaps with sunken eyes and an emaciated body, but he was not an old man. He looked like a man that had once been plump and overweight and suddenly put on an anorexic diet.

A flash of anger flicked in the man's eyes. He was used to getting his way and being in-charge and he must have found the new person in charge a threat to his comfort. Shouryu allowed himself to smile inwardly at the small revelation. That was why the man knew so much. "So I guess that you would have already have known that Shoukei, the small petite girl took over your glorious spot."

Press till it hurts and then he'll know where to start.

"That little girl came waltzing in with the grace of that silly empress. What will that silly taika empress know anything about ruling? I governed Kei for three empresses and not one of them was worth remembering." The man laughed.

"You're- Seikyou. Kei-ou mentioned you."

"I'm not surprised. I am the pillar that held the kingdom, right until that stupid girl decided to exile me." He burst out laughing. "Funny how a kingdom she helped the 'save'", he gestured with his fingers at that point, indicating his clear disdain for Yoko's heroics, "became an inspiration for us."

_Helped to save?_

Shouryu felt his blood run cold as he recognized what that meant. There was only one kingdom that Yoko had assisted in her short twenty years of reign.

_Tai._

The man oblivious to Shouryu's inner rage continued ranting about how great his rule had been. The man had been blind to his own faults and the suffering he had caused with the great corruption. Unable to accept facts even when Yoko had smashed his nose in, he had wondered how he had sat there for so long. The man had fallen silent upon realizing that his audience was no longer held captive by his great exploits.

"There is a way to bring her back." Seikyou's throaty voice broke into his thoughts. "I was the mastermind of the entire plan. I know its flaws too. If they're going to get rid of me, then I don't see why I can't sabotage them. It's a very small detail but hard to fulfill."

Seikyou pointed to his forehead. "A small detail."

* * *

Rankei flew in the darkness. The moon was high in the sky, but all he felt was the bleakness of the situation growing in him. She had never summoned him with such short notice or abrupt wording. Despite the short wording, he had managed to grasp the urgency, the fear that she did not mention. He knew that when they had embarked on this mission, there was a high chance that neither of them would survive. He understood the importance of the mission. Kei-ou was a smart lady, she would have noticed at some point or another. It was a gamble that they both took. The dark trees whizzed past him. Was he closer to the blue palace? By now, fueled by only the short nap he had managed to snatch after the long exhausting ride from Gyouten, Rankei wondered if he would even prove to be of any use.

It was a lurch as his kijyuu suddenly took a dive. Had he driven his mount too much? He didn't need to think hard for that answer. Even the most resilient mounts would have faltered.

"Not now-" he muttered, slapping the mount awake. "Land! LAND!"

The kijyuu mustering the last of its strength landed, tripping over its forepaws. Tumbling forward, Rankei tried to flip to an easy recovery position only to find he could not. He could feel the exhaustion deep in his bones as he rolled to a stop.

"Rankei-?"

He heard a man's incredulous voice as his conscious faded to darkness.


	11. Infiltration

"Keiki, Keiki-" she shook him gently, her hand getting tangled in his silvery gold hair. "Oh sorry!"

Keiki sighed as he got up slowly, reaching to untangle his hair from her hands, his large hand enveloping her small cold hands as he tugged it from her ring. "Why are your hands so cold, your majesty?" He wrapped his hands over hers, blowing into them to warm them up.

"Keiki-" she turned away, her face faintly red.

"Are you having a fever? Your face is red." He reached over to check her temperature. "I'll summon the imperial doctor."

"No- it's fine." She grabbed his hoh as he leapt from the bed to summon the maids. "Look-"

Yoko pointed at the window. The sun had barely risen. Much of the sky was still in darkness, save for the streak of red that looked like a phoenix. Thick flakes of snow fell silently into the garden. He frowned as he stared out of the window.

"I do not see what I'm supposed to see."

She sighed. "It's snowing!"

"I see that. It is not rare for it to snow in mid-winter for Kei. I believe we are well-prepared for possible snow. Does your majesty foresee any issues?"

She sighed again. She seemed to be sighing quite often of the late. "Isn't it pretty? It's the first snow of the year."

"I… see-" he said, puzzled over her excitement over snow.

She heaved a large sigh, disgruntled at his lack of reaction. He would not remember, but it was snowing on the day that she finally reclaimed the throne. She watched it snow from her blood-stained throne and saw Keiki watching her.

"It's fine." She waved his apology away. "I declare a snow day for every province's first day of snow of the season. That's all." She turned and left.

"Your majesty, what's a snow day?"

"It's a day where everything gets cancelled. People get to stay at home and not need to go to work or school today."

She smiled at him. A gentle smile, untainted by any of the sadness that she seemed to carry around lately. Nevertheless, it was one of her rare smiles and Keiki treasured it.

"Keiki," a pair of small hands shook him awake. A memory. It must be the lack of power that made him sleep more. Keiki shook his head, trying to clear the sleep from his head. That was when he heard the screaming and then when it died, all that echoed was the quiet sobbing.

"That's the royal scribe, Shoukei. What is she doing here?" Keiki could not make out what the male voice replied her but they must have both been here to save Yoko. Her majesty must be in this very building. A sense of hope and despair filled his body. If her majesty had been here the whole time, then why had he not sensed her? Not to mention that if what the man had said was right and her majesty did know about En Taiho and him here, why had she not come for them? Keiki struggled with the fear that rose in him as he thought about it. He had half risen when Rokuta grabbed him.

"Wait," Rokuta said. "She was screaming for En-ou, that means Shouryu is here."

Keiki looked at the small kirin. He had forgotten that Rokuta had been jailed with him. "Based on their conversation, I do not believe that they know we are here," his voice rapidly regaining the composure that he was famous for. It would not be good for anyone was to see a kirin panicking. Kirins were the embodiment of the heaven's will. They should always be calm and poised. That was what Keiki was taught.

Rokuta frowned at Keiki's statement. "I had the theory that they were using us as blackmail, but now I don't think that we are even in the picture. I mean. That girl, she said save the queen. That means there's something wrong with Yoko. Are we insurance?"

"Insurance?"

Rokuta turned to the bars, gripping them, he hollered as loudly as he could, "HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

* * *

Shouryu covered the boy with his cloak. He knew Rankei from going in and out of Kinpa palace. Yoko had spoken to him about Rankei. She had mentioned him in the passing on how he was going through a rebellious phase, but Shouryu last expected Rankei to fall from the sky in the middle of the night. Not to mention that there was a high chance of war back at the Gyouten. Rankei was a highly intelligent boy. He knew that from Tai-ou and Yoko. He would have made his way back to the palace if he was not already there in this kind of situation.

"You didn't have to literally drop help from the sky," he muttered.

Shouryu grunted with irritation. Yet again it felt like the heaven was leading him round in circles; it had been a total coincidence that he had noticed the unusual amount of tokis that were leaving his kingdom. Shouryu had not been able to mention it because mentioning where he got his source from meant that he would have to tell someone that he had been sweeping some floor in a ratty casino in his own country. Hakutaku, or rather none of his ministers were going to give him a break once they did. Instead he decided that he would monitor it personally and find out what was going on. Once he had found out about Yoko leaving the palace to go to Bu Province, he knew he had to come. Someone was taking it out from his country to Kei. Who knows what else the person or organization could do. Now at a loss on what his next move was, heaven decided to move another chess piece. He would not ignore it or rather, Shouryu could not ignore it. After meeting Kouya and hearing the story about Kouya and Rokuta, Shouryu solemnly swore never to ignore obvious direction.

' _In that case, Seikyou must be another chess piece. A small detail huh.'_  He furrowed his eyebrows. He could try to enter the building again and have Rankei break in to kidnap Yoko. That seemed like the only plan he had. Shouryu was starting to feeling the weariness beat down on him. Even kings could be tired. He looked up, taking in the wide expanse of dark sky above him.

"En-ou," came a deep voice from beneath his feet.

Startled, he took an involuntary step back. Shouryu had resigned himself to completing the impossible task of saving Yoko by himself before Heaven decided to drop Rankei onto him and now a shirei? Clearly Heaven believed he needed a lot of help. The question of whether he should waste three days on going to Mt Hou and asking if he was within his heaven's mandate to assist Yoko flickered through his mind. With things the way they are now, Shouryu wasn't sure if he had the luxury of wasting three days. This situation felt awfully familiar. Was it when that Kou-ou tried to kill Yoko? Where was Rokuta when he needed him? His pesky kirin always appeared at inappropriate times but rarely the times he needed the kirin. Shouryu bit back another unhappy mutter as he turned back to the shirei. Rokuta's shirei always called him ' _your majesty_ ' so clearly this was not Rokuta's. Plus Shouryu didn't recognize the voice, definitely not Rokuta's.

"Who are you?"

"I am Hankyo, Kei taiho's shirei. I've come bearing a message from her majesty."

"A message?" Shouryu could scarcely believe his ears. Upon seeing the state of Yoko when she left with that Jinhaku, Shouryu did not believe that she was capable of doing anything beyond that crazy man's commands. There was hope! A fire sang in his heart as he began making plans around that idea. "What message is it?" Shouryu asked, almost laughing in glee.

"I am to tell you what happened."

_What would telling me help her?_

"Following a lead, her majesty entered the building to save the man called Jinhaku. There many of the ministers recognized her and she was led into staying in the building while trying to find the man. However it seemed that something she ate or drank had robbed her of her ability react. The man, Jinhaku entered the room and placed a red string around her forehead and sealed it with a bead. From that moment onwards, her majesty had stopped responding to us. Due to her majesty's orders that unless she was in immediate danger, we are not allowed to interfere; we have not been able to do anything." A tone sounding awfully like guilt crept into the cold shirei's voice.

"Is it possible for you to remove the red string?"

"No. Her orders forbid us from assisting her unless she is in immediate danger."

If it's the red string with the bead, it must be the same one that Kouya had placed around Rokuta's head. Shouryu was told about it much after the rebellion in Gen Province. Chances is that it was placed around someone else's head. The possibility of killing someone by removing it was there.

"Would you be able to show me the way to her room?"

"Yes."

That was a start.

* * *

"STOP! THE QUEEN WILL SEE NO ONE," Koshou hollered. He pushed back the minister, pulling his large spear into an aggressive stance. With the tension rising, more and more ministers were beginning to disregard the fact that they were not even supposed to be in the inner palace. They were becoming quite adamant on seeing the queen in fact that some resorted to trying to sneak in through her window. The other three retainers shifted uneasily. Koshou could not fault them for being nervous as well and unlike the milling ministers in front of him, they knew that the queen was not there.

"The queen is currently conferring with Daishiba and Sankou. I understand your anxiety, but you better get the hell out of here before the queen sees you and throws you into jail." Jerking a thumb to the minister that he had pushed back, he said to the soldier beside him, "send him to jail for a day and make him remember that NONE OF YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE INNER PALACE."

Koshou's loud voice carried through the inner palace. The ministers quickly scrambled out of the inner palace and for now, gardens were silent again.

"Very good, Daiboku," Enho said.

Koshou turned and bowed as deeply as Yoko's edict allowed him to. "Taishi."

"Don't worry about it. There weren't many options to choose from. I don't think they'll be back soon, though if her majesty does not return soon, I believe they will find out the truth."

"Is there anything specific you would like me to say when that comes?"

"Perhaps something along the lines that her majesty has left to talk to the rebellion leader. Yes, that would be good."

"Affirmative."

* * *

Rankei suppressed the urge to shout in frustration at their slow pace through the dark corridors. It was essential and Rankei could not fault En-ou for being careful.

"This way," the voice from the shadows said quietly as they came to a crossroad. Rankei had been in this building many times as it was one of the primary meeting spots for her and many other ministers. He was not proud to be one of the rebellion leaders though En-ou and Yoko did not know yet, he knew he'd get more than another of Yoko's lectures for doing such a thing. He dreaded it, but he hoped that at least he would have been able to accomplish what he had set out to do.

The corridor was so silent that Rankei could hear the leather in his shoes creak. Judging by the number of people in the banquet hall and the almost empty halls, even the guards must be down there celebrating.

' _Celebrating the easy victory they're going to have._ ' Rankei thought as a chill ran down his spine. He shuddered at the horror of what was going horribly wrong. ' _I still can fix this,'_ he paused at that thought before adding belatedly, ' _I hope.._ '

Hankyo rose and stood outside a door. Despite the blank face that he held, the shirei gave an impression of impatience as he watched them walked towards the door. Shouryu drew his sword as he burst into the room.

It was empty.

Shouryu had expected it to be empty. Not because the guards were downstairs drinking gaily, but because he had expected that the shirei had taken anyone who could pose a threat down for them. Yoko lay on the bed, fast asleep. That surprised him a little. Yoko had always been an insomniac for the last two decades he had known her.

"Yoko!" he whispered furiously, shaking her. She did not even rouse.

_A small detail._

Shouryu carried her to the window where the thin silver moon shone into the room. She was so light, lighter than he remembered her to be, not that he carried her many times.

"Why did they leave so many hairpieces on when she's going to sleep?" he muttered. ' _Is it the red thread?_ '

He hesitated. What if there was something else connected to the same red thread? Then just as he mustered the courage to break the red thread, the thread tightened around her head. It seemed to attempt to slice her head into half, but due to Yoko's divinity, it merely gave a rather deep cut around her head. Yoko convulsed, her eyelids moving rapidly as though trying to open but unable to. Blood poured from her head, splattering down Shouryu's grimy robes. Shouryu held her, wrapping his torn sleeve around her head.

"Get a cloth!"

Rankei leapt for the blanket, tearing into rollable strips as he ran back to Shouryu.

"It's not stopping!" Rankei cried out. It looked so painful. "Why isn't she waking?! Anyone would have been woken if they were injured so badly!"

"Not if I commanded her to sleep," a wry voice replied from behind them.

The duo had been so engrossed in stopping her bleeding that they had not noticed Jinhaku and a small group of soldiers enter.

"Rankei." The man greeted him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to lead the armies to Kinpa Palace. But I guess if your beloved mistress has defected, then it would have been the same for you." He smiled. "Get them!"

* * *

Rokuta slumped against the bars, weary from shouting. No matter how much he yelled, they did not seem to give an indication that they heard him. It was true after all that a kirin's senses were much sharper than any human or beast out there. If he could barely hear them, then they must be really far from them. Rokuta turned to look at Keiki. Judging by the amount of time he had spent with the red thread around his head several hundred decades ago at Ganboku, both Keiki and him must be hitting their limit.

"Hey Stone-face."

If faces could go any whiter than white itself, then En Taiho's face would be a perfect example of such. Kirins were already known to have a pale complexion, but now his face was stark of any colour except the brilliant gold that lost much of its luster and hung limply down his face. Keiki was surprised that Enki could even energy to shout let alone a sarcastic nickname. Looking up Keiki saw Rokuta approach him.

"En Taiho, what are you doing?" Keiki tried to pull back, only to find himself too exhausted to even do that.

Without replying, Rokuta slid his finger under Keiki's and his red thread and pulled it. The loud sound of the thread snapping echoed in the cell. The threads unraveled as they fell onto the ground. A surge of energy rushed through him, tingling right down to his fingers. His forehead feeling rather warm as the flood of energy gushing through them seemed to crackle in audibly in the air.

"What have you done?" Keiki stared at Rokuta. He collapsed onto the ground. Though energy surged through him, he could feel the pain from the link that bound him with her majesty. "Your- majesty-" he called weakly.

Rokuta called loudly. "Rikaku."

The grey shirei rose from the shadows. "Present."

"Get us out of here."

The shirei smashed itself against the celling, rubble was fell like rain as it used its great jaws and paws to dig through the wall. Rokuta half dragged, half carried Keiki to a corner where it was safe.

"I'm going to find Shouryu, will you be alright?"

Keiki looked at Rokuta. "Her majesty is in grave trouble."

Rokuta pulled Keiki's arm, pushing back his sleeve as he did. Pale but empty. There were no splotches of black that usually indicated shitsudou. He breathed a sigh of relief. Rokuta wasn't sure what on earth was going on Kei but seeing how he and Keiki had been kidnapped for the longest time, it didn't seem good.

He heard the patter of feet that was running towards their cell. Glancing at his shirei, it did not seem that Rikaku would be able to break the wall that quickly. The walls in the dungeons were built too stoutly. Was there no way of getting through it quickly?

"Keiki! Hurry! Your youwa!" Rokuta pointed at the ceiling. "Get him to smash through it." A shirei that could smash its entire weight on it would be better than a flying shirei in this case.

"Jyuusaku." Keiki commanded. The shirei sprang into action without a further word, throwing its entire weight into the ceiling. The shouhi hurried away from the hole it had dug as the youwa approached. Beneath Rikaku's jaws and paws and Jyuusaku's hard head and strong legs, the ceiling broke a gap large enough for both kirins to squeeze through.

"Keiki! Hurry!" Rokuta shifted. He was gone even before his clothes fell to the ground. Not far behind, he could hear the guards yelling in dismay and Keiki right behind.

* * *

Rishou surged forward, his quick feet rapidly covering the distance between him and Rankei. He liked Rankei. Rankei was a man who never minced his words if he felt the person deserved it. He was never afraid to speak up if he felt indignant. Rankei was a man truly devoted to their cause. Why had he defected along with her? Had he always been devoted because she was devoted? Rishou had not liked her very much, especially when he saw her in Tougoku. She was a double agent. Double agents could never be trusted, particularly agents like her who hid their true face too well. But now was not the time to contemplate on reasons. Stepping lightly to the right, Rishou felt Rankei's blade narrowly miss his cheek. Rankei never minced his words and never held back.

Rankei did not pause as his sword missed; he had expected that from Rishou. Dropping to the ground, he kicked Rishou's feet out. Rishou fell; quickly rolling into a ball, he sprung away lightly. He pulled his sword to chin and charged at Rankei. Just at the last moment, he spun around. His elbow slamming into Rankei's stomach, he leapt back. Rankei winced, taking several involuntary steps. He could hear the fight behind him. From the corner of his eye, he could see En-ou take down several men without breaking a sweat.

' _Always keep your cool, that is the most important.'_

Rankei could almost hear Tai-ou say his favourite line. He let himself take a deep breath. Letting Rishou's sword slide down his, he hit it with just enough force to send it spinning. He jumped forward, stepping onto his foot before kicking Rishou in the shoulder. Rishou fell to the ground. He grabbed his shoulder as he scowled at Rankei.

"Good. You are as good as Tai-ou said you were," Shouryu said. Finally sparing a glance, he realized the reason why Shouryu was speaking so carefree was due to the two large shirei standing over Yoko.

"Is she okay?"

"I've just defended myself," Shouryu declared before Jinhaku could open his mouth. "In the eyes of the heaven, I have done nothing wrong. But you…" Shouryu trailed into silence, a sardonic smile crept onto his face. "Taking the queen, brainwashing her, injuring her. What else could you do to go against the will of heaven?"

Perhaps it was the light for for a moment, Jinhaku's face seemed to pale at Shouryu's words. "A lot of other things. Kei-ou! Kill this man!"

 


	12. Rankei of Kokei

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a discrepancy here. The shirei are drawn and coloured differently in the anime as compared to the book. Hankyo in the book is supposed to have red fur, while in the anime, he has white and grey fur. So I've decided to follow the anime rather than the book.

Time seemed to slow as they turned to see the sleeping Yoko arise. She slipped between the two large shirei, pulling out a hairpin she gripped it tightly like a dagger, charging towards Shouryu.

"Yoko!" The shouts of the two men echoed in the large room; one spinning to the side to avoid her blow, the other rushing to pull her down. Hankyo slid between the hairpin and Shouryu. The hairpin pierced through his thick hide and drawing bright scarlet drops down his white and grey fur. Unyielding to the resistance or maybe not even registering the resistance, she withdrew another hairpin. This time Rankei was more prepared for her. He sheathed his sword, not willing risk injuring her, an act that Shouryu found canting considering Rankei's position on the rebellion.

"Please En-ou, let us bring you to safety," the shirei said. Shouryu shook his head. In her blind obedience to follow the treacherous man's command, she might and probably would do anything to complete it. Bringing him to safety was putting her in more danger. Putting her in more danger would mean that the problem with the smuggled tokis would not be solved in time, thus indirectly affecting En. The smugglers probably were a bigger issue than it appeared on the surface.

Rankei knocked the hairpin out of her hand without any resistance. Gently he knocked her back, trying to tie her up so that she would not injure anyone. However as he moved towards her, she dashed for Rishou's forgotten sword. She pulled it up to a battle stance; completely ignoring Rankei, she rushed towards Shouryu. She stopped just inches before the sword touched Shouryu.

"What are you doing Kei-ou? Kill him!" Shouryu could hear the man behind yell.

Her body resisted her actions but her eyes gave her away. Her eyes dilated, filled with fear and worry gave the impression that she was begging Shouryu to move. Yoko stood over him, her movements frozen by something invisible. Beads of sweat dribbled down her forehead indicating a fight with probably herself. Shouryu turned to Jinhaku. He had forgotten how that man was the mastermind to all this. If he killed him then Yoko would be set free. He ran to him, side-stepping one of the soldier's blade, he slid beneath the soldier's legs. Seizing Jinhaku's arm, he rotated it to his back, forcing Jinhaku to move up to ease the discomfort, but what Shouryu didn't know was that Jinhaku was a competent warrior with decades and maybe even tens of decades of experience to back him up.

Jinhaku flipped, uncaring that his left arm dislocated. With expert ease, he popped his shoulder back into its socket, rotating a few times as he drew his sword. There was no hesitation in his blade as Jinhaku rushed in and neither was there in Shouryu. Jinhaku swung, his sword swinging through empty air. He missed. Flipping backward, he narrowly ducked Shouryu's sword but Shouryu bought himself time to move in. As Jinhaku rolled to his feet, Shouryu had hurled forward, his blade digging deep into Jinhaku's side. Jinhaku had miraculously dodged the stomach blow. The two stared at each other. For a moment, it seemed that there was a stand-off. They eyed each other. Jinhaku felt it and Shouryu knew it though it was not obvious to the audience. Jinhaku could not beat Shouryu.

"Yoko!"

Shouryu turned to peer from the corner of his eyes to see what had happened and in that spilt second, Jinhaku lunged. Shouryu spin a little too late. His blade diving into Shouryu's chest, drawing a red line down his chest. That was all Jinhaku could do before Shouryu's blade took him squarely through the chest. He staggered, blood streaming down his clothes. He staggered towards Shouryu with an odd smile on his face. "She'll never be free from me," he coughed, blood dribbling on Shouryu's already red robes. He fell heavily onto the floor.

* * *

The sky above was dark, save for the thin silver hanging low in the sky. It almost seemed that even the stars were missing, like the heavens held its breath in anticipation for the future of Kei. Keiki could see small puffs of clouds form as he panted. His feet cantering in the dark overcast sky, he could feel the wind twine in and out of his mane. Small white flecks began to fall, increasing in size and quantity as he flew on the wind to his queen. Quiet unlike the thunderous sound of rain that often drowned out the sound of even his own thoughts, Keiki was left with bewildering maze of questions in his head and nothing to distract him. He could see Enki ahead of him, running through the white snow. With everything going on, Keiki had prepared himself for the very strong possibility of shitsudou. Having experienced shitsudou before, Keiki had more experience with it than any other kirin. He was feeling weak, but it was not the same kind of weak. Her aura was still strong and pure unlike the wrongness that he felt from You-ou towards the end of her reign. Like Enki, he did not need anyone to tell him where Yoko was. Her aura was like a brilliant, pulsating light.

Keiki gagged as he landed on the balcony. The stench of blood wafted through the air. Though much of the stench was covered by the crisp snow, Keiki could see that the source of smell was none other than his queen.

"Your majesty!" he cried out, leaping forward and despite being too awkward of his nakedness, nothing mattered more than the well-being of his queen. He plucked Yoko from Rankei, cradling her, heedless of the blood that went onto him and Rankei's warnings.

"Oei, Shouryu! What the hell is this?!" Rokuta hollered, landing on the balcony. His bright golden mane was dampened by the layer of snow that covered it. He shook himself perhaps to clear the snow on him, although more likely in frustration at the scene before him.

"Oh! There's my kirin," Shouryu chuckled. "Leave one of your shirei and return to En, will you?" He flashed a smile at Rokuta before turning back to Jinhaku.

"Shouryu! Are you saving Kei at the expense of En?"

"I merely defended myself. Now get out of here."

"Shouryu-"

"Go! Hurry!" There was an urgency in Shouryu's voice that compelled Rokuta to follow his orders.

"Keiki, hurry and get your shirei to take her back to the palace." Rankei lowered his voice, "Don't worry I'll stop this."

Keiki barely took gave Rankei a second glance before transforming into his beast form. With Kaiko holding Yoko in place, he flew back to the palace. Kirins were the fastest beasts when riding the wind after all. Rokuta followed, casting a long stare as he leapt of the balcony. There was nothing he could do to change his king's mind and nothing he could to do disobey him.

" _With Heaven's Mandate, I greet my master. Henceforth, I will serve you always with utmost loyalty. This is my pledge."_

" _Some place green… with grain in the fields and leaves on the trees. A land where no one starves. Where everyone can sleep under a roof, safe from the cold, untouched by the dew. Where all they know will be peace, without the fear of famine or war."_

" _A king cannot rule on simply justice and mercy."_

Rokuta could feel his tears slid down his long snout as he flew through the air. How the people of En would suffer from his king's actions.

* * *

Silence hung heavily in the air. The soldiers stared uneasily before deciding the next in command would be Rishou who had gotten up and backed near the door.

"Was she okay?" Shouryu had his back facing Rankei, his stare never moving from the frozen soldiers before him.

"She was not moving, but breathing. It was difficult to disarm her without hurting her."

"But he's dead."

"I don't think that was what controlled her." Rankei frowned. Saving Yoko had been one of his worries, but he had sidetracked and almost forgotten the real reason why he was here. "En-ou. Get out of here, before you get Enki even sadder."

"What about you? What about Sekki and Shoukei?"

"Don't worry about them. I'll deal with it."

Shouryu turned and ran towards the balcony. He could feel the shirei rising from his shadow. Rokuta had left his two best shirei behind. Sanki caught Shouryu as he leapt off the balcony and without a backward glance, Shouryu rode towards Kinpa Palace.

"So you're going to deal with the ten of us all by yourself? Did you overestimate yourself?" Rishou sneered.

"Perhaps I should re-introduce myself properly," Re-tying his sheath to his belt, Rankei said, "I am Rankei of Kokei, adopted son of Kei-ou, the glory king; student of Enho, also known as Etsu Otsu and disciple of Tai-ou, the peace king now known as the undefeated king." There was a faint smile as he unsheathed his sword, turning his brown eyes to look evenly into Rishou's grey eyes. "No. I do not think I overestimated myself. Did you overestimate yourselves?"

* * *

She hugged herself tightly, not willing to let herself give in to the growing weakness inside her. Shoukei felt her eyes burn as she buried her face into her skirts. She would not cry. Blinking the tears away, she gazed at the cold metal bars, recalling the last time she had been in a cell. It had been winter then, Hou's winters were bone-cold. Furious at world, furious at Gekkei, she had been blind to the world. Yoko had opened her eyes to the world in the span of twenty years. She watched Hou rise, helped Tai, watched Ryuu fall.

"Yoko-" she muttered. "I didn't plan this to happen."

"Then what did you think would happen by starting a rebellion against her majesty?"

"I-" Shoukei paused in her words. There was no need to prove herself to Sekki. A mere commoner like him would never understand the complexity of the issue at hand. "You'll never understand."

The doors of the dungeon flew open. One of the guards flew through the door, slamming into the stone wall. Youtashi strolled through with an air of indifference.

"Found you."

"What are you doing here?" Shoukei could not believe her eyes. She had expected Rankei but not Youtashi.

He ducked. The soldier's sword flew wildly over his head. Youtashi plunged his sword into the soldier. Blood flowed down his sword as he pulled it out. The man stumbled and fell to the ground near the soldier that flew through the door. Sekki could see an innumerable mass of soldiers struggling to enter the dungeon, but because of the door's narrow width, only one could come in at a time. The dungeon had been made to prevent people from escaping, not breaking in. Youtashi swiped to the left, the sword barely missing him. Bringing his sword up, Youtashi slashed the soldier up the chest. His sword cutting through the armor and into the man. Blood spurted onto Youtashi, but carrying stoic expression that rivaled Keiki's, Youtashi merely turned to the new opponent as his old one fell to the ground. His new opponent paused, taking in the carnage before him.

"I was charged to look after you," Youtashi said, continuing the conversation as though he had not just killed two men while in-between sentences.

He slashed at the soldier who finally decided to attack. Shoukei could hear the audible crack as the soldier crumpled. His eyes slid to the shackles on her wrist and ankles and the lock on the cell.

"Are you looking for this?" Shinzou jangled a bunch of keys.

He walked into the wider corridors. "If you want it, you'll have to defeat me." With those words, he launched forward. Shoukei had half expected him to draw a sword. Tokis and plain swords were the preferred choice followed by daitous and iron spears for their range and weight. What Shinzou pulled out was none of the above. Shinzou was trained in the arts of stealth fighting. Bare hand and extreme close range fighting was something he excelled in. This Shinzou knew and the narrow corridor with its metal bars was the perfect terrain. He threw his small darts, causing Youtashi to block with his sword. Slipping into his range, Shinzou pulled his long dagger, slashing at Youtashi's stomach. He flipped back, just in time. He jumped, spinning around, his kick clipped the side of Shinzou's head. Youtashi shifted forward as Shinzou reeled backward.

Shinzou had anticipated that. He rolled to the ground. Pulling his legs up, he kicked him in the face as Youtashi came. Youtashi took several steps back, stumbling on purpose. Shinzou pushed him. Both falling onto the ground, Shinzou pounded into Youtashi. He had not expected any other outcome. That was until a commotion came from the front doors.

Sneaking a side look, Shinzou gave all the opening Youtashi had been waiting for. He pulled the small sword, stabbed Shinzou.

"I see you've taken care of that," said the cool, low-pitched tenor voice. He wiped the blood off his face with the side of his sleeve before taking a look at the speaker.

The man, probably not a day older than twenty, stood over him. His hand stretched out to help Youtashi up. He carried himself carelessly and judging by the amount of unconscious people behind him, Youtashi was right to judge him as lethal. He was strong enough to subdue so many people without killing or fatally injuring them. It was a feat that Youtashi himself could have difficulty carrying out.

"Rankei!" Shoukei cried out happily.

"There you are, mistress. Yoko has been brought back to the palace, unconscious but not freed. Would you like to clean up?"

She frowned. Unconscious but not freed. Surely Enho and Koukan would be able to deal it. She nodded slowly, her mind busy with forming plans.

"Shoukei. Where are you two going?" Sekki asked upon noticing that they were not going the same way as Youtashi and him.

"We have a rebellion to attend to," she replied with a grim look.

"Then I'm coming with you," Sekki said.

"As I will," Youtashi added.

"What? Why?"

"I was charged to look after you." Youtashi merely repeated what he had said earlier, indifferent to Shoukei's reaction.

"In order to judge impartially, you'll have to see things with your own eyes."


	13. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you figured the plot out? Because if you didn't, here it is~ No more guessing guessing. Hehe! It's not as… complicated as my other one. At least I don't think it is. It's not a very clever situation and I know people will criticize it, as I am. But I don't change plots at the ending, so yea. I'd like to see if anyone can come up with a better solution/plot. If you had other ideas on what the conspiracy was in the whole story, please tell me. I'd love to know other perspectives!
> 
> Oh, yes this is a long Author's note! I feel like most of the time I don't ever want to read the author's note and it's pointless to write disclaimers. You know. If they're going to sue me, a disclaimer ain't going to stop them. Allow me to ramble on one of my more rambling a/n instead of a functional a/n.
> 
> When I started to write this story, I've tried to copy the characteristics of the novels into my writing. It's more utilitarian and less flowery than some of my writing. Simple and clear words, nothing big and snobbish. Of course then I tried to mimic the plots of the novels. 12K novels rarely had a simplistic plot. There's politics, treachery and backstabbing which fits my style. I like plots with lots of twists and the downfall for that is in order to keep up with plot holes, I constantly re-read through before starting the chapter and/or writing if I stopped halfway. Which means when I get to chapters like this, 13! I've practically memorized almost word for word in my chapter 1. Ugh! Sometimes it's cringe-worthy and I'll systematically update and correct as I go along. If you have re-read at any point of time, you may notice small/slight differences as I update and re-update as I correct them. Not that I don't proof read! It's just… you don't see it sometimes. Plus by the time you've read the chapter you're working on for the umpteenth time, you sort of glaze by it not even noticing it.
> 
> I feel compelled to ramble. I've been reading a lot of fanfiction lately and I have to say that some writers here actually write better than the books I actually borrow and purchase from the libraries. If you watched Full metal Alchemist, you should totally read Catalysis. The writing is incredible. Another author on ff is silkendreammaid. I hope my writing will be as awesome as theirs.

The sun was rising after another sleepless night for Koshou. After the ministers had found out about her, he found it pointless to keep up pretences of guarding the inner palace. Koshou and several of the inner palace guards had taken to guarding the forbidden gate instead. It did not really matter if he did. The barracks were so highly strung that he could probably cut the tension with a knife. With no orders except to be ready to move out any time, the King's army was divided on how to spend their time effectively. There were the really seasoned ones that lounged around making fart jokes and eating like it was their last meals and the newly recruited from other divisions that spent their time training or being really intense. Personally, Koshou could not understand why they would waste their energy training if they were going to move out any time, would it not deplete their energy levels? It was one of the small inner jokes that Koshou and his subordinates shared.

"Over there," Toshou pointed.

Just above the horizon was a speck of white. The blob grew bigger and on its edges was a trim of brilliant red.

"Is that-" Toshou started.

"MOVE ASIDE!" Koshou bellowed, pushing Toshou out of range just in time.

A white object with shades of pale yellow mixed with a smudge of red streaked past. Koshou caught Kaiko's eye and immediately recognizing the limpness of Yoko and her red and white robe, he hollered, "FETCH THE ROYAL PHYSICIAN!"

"Was that the kirin?" Koshou could hear the soldiers muttering.

"Was the red streak was her majesty?"

He hurried after them. A small crowd had gathered to see what the shouting was about. Koshou paused in his urgency, quickly summarizing all the possibilities of what might have happened. He had not been promoted to daiboku for no reason. Though he was not as good as Sekki in precipitating possible situations, he had a keen eye, clear head and the voice that commanded people's attention. He pointed at the three lieutenants. "You and you, gather your platoon and follow me. You, gather your platoon and guard the forbidden gate." Satisfied that his orders being followed in an extremely efficient manner, Koshou returned to chasing after Keiki.

Just as he bounded into the inner palace, he could hear the hurried pounding of feet behind him. One of the soldiers carried the royal physician while the other carried his equipment were hurrying down. Koshou leapt out of the way as they hurried past him. Following a while behind was the physicians assistants who had not been as important to be carried by the soldiers in their hurry to reach the inner palace quicker.

The royal physician was already bending over Yoko when he skidded into the room. "Toshou! Assist Kei Taiho to his room to recover!" Koshou barked. Clearly there was no one who was calm enough to make the decisions around now that Kantai was missing. Koshou could catch bits of the conversation as the royal physician spoke with Koukan.

"Will she be okay?"

"The bleeding is not stopping and the Hekisoujo is missing. It is strange that she is not waking."

They paused startled by Hankyo's appearance. The fact that the shirei was offering information unbidden worried Koshou even more.

"Her majesty was drugged. She will not wake up," Hankyo said quietly, the top of his head and his eye peered at the royal physician.

"Drugged by what?"

"I do not know." The shirei sunk back into the shadows before they could question him further. A dark silence fell over them. Drugged, bleeding and unable to stop it, Koshou swallowed thickly. Koukan gripped the side table, his knuckles turning white as he stood there staring down on Yoko.

One of Yoko's handmaidens tugged on Koshou's sleeve urgently. Barely registering what she was saying, he turned to where she pointed. Rokuta stood at the doorway. His face was pale from the stench of blood but there was a look of impatience on his face.

"Hoi! Are you listening?!" He called out exasperated to them.

"En- … Taiho?" Koukan broke from his trance.

Rokuta covered his nose, his eyebrows furrowed as he glanced at Yoko. "Try stopping the bleeding with the Kaikyaku method. They use thread to stitch the together."

"Thread-?"

"How barbaric!" The royal physician yelled. "Do you think her majesty is some piece of cloth!?"

"There's no other way is there? At least it works!" Rokuta pulled up his shirt to expose his belly. They could see a beige centipede-like scar running down it. He turned, helped by one of the handmaidens, he returned to his room, far from the stench of blood.

The handmaidens handed over thread to the royal physician. His hand trembled as he neared the wound. Tremble would be an understatement, his hands shook viciously. Gyokuyo snatched it out of his hands, pushing the royal physician away.

"Men!" She muttered. She gulped thickly as she picked the cool needle. Belying her fear with her steady hands, she began stitching. They were neat and fine. "Well?" Gyokuyo turned to the royal physician, making space for him. She hid her hands in the folds of her dress as she stood. Her hands now quivering, released from its need to be calm.

"A-Ah! Y-Yes." He moved over, placing the smelly herbal paste over the wound and bandaging it deftly. This time blood did not seep through it and they breathed a sigh of relief, for now.

"What about the drug?" Koukan asked. "What kind of drug do you think is able to keep someone under even with so much pain?"

The royal physician listed a few herbs. "I'll make a medicine to counteract a few of those and hopefully it hits one of those." He was not confident at all. No one was confident in anything at all now.

* * *

"What is the status?" Shoukei asked as she marched into the room.

The ministers turned to look at her. "What are you doing here? I thought you defected."

She sat down on the throne chair that was clearly meant for the master of the house. "It was that Jinhaku, not me that defected." She smiled, catching the eye of one of the ministers. "Well? What is the status?"

"The army is assembled and ready to move into Ei."

"Who are the commanding officers?" She tapped her fingers impatiently, watching them exchange perplexed looks. Clearly, this was all the dissident officers. There was not an ounce of soldier in them. That was a good sign. She turned to Rankei and Youtashi.

"Rankei take command of the Left army. Youtashi, lead the right army-"

"I apologize Shoukei," Youtashi said blandly, interrupting her orders. His eyes were apathetic much like his voice. He had been leaning insouciantly against the wall, watching the bickering unfold before him. He was charged to watch over Shoukei's safety and nothing more. A military man to the core, Youtashi followed the order to its last letter and nothing more unless it did not make sense. The whole situation did not make sense to him but it was not in his taste to desert an order. "I do not lead. Moreover I am charged to look after you, not to lead armies."

She pursed her lips. That certainly was going to be a problem. "Rankei, find  _someone_ who have the capacity to lead the left and right."

There was no need for her to elaborate. Rankei knew what would come next and carry out in that manner. Now all Shoukei could do was pray that Yoko would wake in time and still trust her.

* * *

It was two days of non-stop flying when Shouryu finally reached the Kinpa Palace. There was a bone deep exhaustion permeating through him but his exhaustion was probably nothing compared to the two shirei who had carried him for last few days. Being the Eternal King, Shouryu had not spent the two days in idle. He might not have the luxury to do anything but sit on the shirei but his mind was free and he did plenty of thinking. In the beginning his mind clamored in their disparate views on the situation. What could have tipped Shoukei and Rankei off? Were they the true masterminds? Where did Seikyou originally stand?

He did not regret killing the man even if it had not been his place to do so. Yoko was too soft for such stuff, frequently favouring exiles over executions. Perhaps it was the influence of the kirin. Yoko did have an abnormal dependence for Keiki's opinions even if it was not obvious. Shouryu had been down the road before before he had become king. He had ample time and opportunities to form the way he wanted to run his kingdom even before he met Rokuta. That was the difference between both of them. Yoko was a competent ruler. All kings had the potential to become a competent ruler. That was why the kirins had chosen them. However not all kings had trust, the opportunity and the guiding hand to bring them to their true capacity. He had not violated any Heaven's will outright, Shouryu had made certain of that. Seikyou was no longer considered a citizen of Kei and the man had attacked him. He had killed the man in self-defence. If the heaven was going to punish him for the thinly-veiled bypass, then he would have been punished a thousand times over. He would provide the guiding hand that Yoko clearly wanted. To guide but not to lead. There was a big difference in the words.

Though he had contemplated on the roles of Shoukei and Rankei. Their roles could be vastly different depending on the take of the situation. Shouryu considered himself an impeccable judge of character and Yoko was certainly adept at it herself. Their judgment on the two would not have strayed that far. Deciding to err on being optimistic, something that Shouryu had not done for a long time, he began to lay out possible plans for Yoko to consider when she awoke. She will awake. Shouryu had not made that painful detour to not have her awaken.

He clutched his bloodied arm. It had hurt when the youma had bitten him. Sanki had been quick to defeat the lowly youma before it had gotten further. The smell of blood did not help to ward off any other curious ones.

The shirei staggered to the front of the forbidden gate. There was at least a full battalion of soldiers guarding there.

' _Had something happen?_ ' flashed through Shouryu's mind. He had nothing on himself to prove that he was the real En-ou.

His brown eyes searching the crowd for a familiar face. Surely there was something who remembered him from his recently frequent trips. No such luck. He groaned as he slid off Sanki. His legs protested in weariness.

He would have to bear it a little longer.

"Rikaku, go find Rokuta and tell him I'm here and requires him to prove my legitimacy."

The shirei was off without a further word.

_'Not too long, I hope.'_

* * *

Rankei stared out at the army. His mind mentally ticking off those suitable for progression. It was a test. Everything was a test. A test that only the astute would have noticed it. Shoukei trusted Yoko to realize that as he did. He paused at the silhouette on the outskirts of the city. Kantai had definitely noticed it though belated.

"Do you have the list?" The silky voice broke his thoughts.

She had sidled up to him without him realizing or had he not really noticed because he knew it was she? Rankei shook his head in bewilderment.

"Was that a no to my question?" Shoukei asked, her eyebrow raised expectantly at him. She cast a glance at the army below them. There was an indiscernible look in her eyes when she turned back at him that belied the casual smile on her face. "Don't fail this."

Her quiet words were unneeded. Rankei knew exactly how bad things could go if it went south. He was trained by Tai-ou in the war aspects after all.

He scribbled the list down and passed it to her. "I'll call them out in a bit," he nodded as he spoke.

She shaded her eyes as the morning sun drifted into the twilight sky. "Is that Kantai?"

"I believe so."

"If he's here then who's leading?" Her voice had an apprehensive tone.

"Zoukyu, Gaishin and Danki if nothing else had been changed since I left."

"Is that his test as well?"

Though Rankei did not slump, his shoulders seemed to heave under his words. "I believe so." Everything hinged on his orders now. He leapt onto the kijyuu without a backward glance; soaring into the air with the armies following.

* * *

There was a muted silence probably partially from the falling snow as Shouryu stalked down the lavish hallways. The inner palace was always extravagant in any kingdom. The finely crafted white pillars seemed to stretch on interminably. Perhaps it only seemed so far when the only thing he had on his mind was to reach Yoko as quickly as possible. The other thoughts of pending doom, possibility of breaking heaven's will and even the pallid complexion on Rokuta had been evicted by the girl whose hair burned like fire and smiled so brilliantly that he thought he could be blinded. He did not mind his grimy state or the aching pain in his arm as he burst into the room without waiting for the handmaidens to announce him. Such politeness would have to wait when Yoko was awake and very much alive to snipe at him with her quiet husky voice. Not that he did bother about such decorum of late.

The residents in the room were barely startled from his entrance. His footsteps must have been loud enough for them to guess their guest. His gaze fell onto Yoko. No longer bleeding but still asleep. Small victories for them. Beckoning to the physician, he pulled out from his jacket a handful of grubby flowers. Yoko would recognize these if she were awake. There were few herbs that had made her hunt the yellow sea for. Blue and white tipped with prickly leaves. Those were the only description they had to go by the last time they searched for them.

"Grind the flowers and brew it with water."

The physician nodded, barrelling towards the door. Koukan had quickly deduced the nature of her sleep. She would wake soon, but not soon enough to order for the armies in order for a perfect defence. Ideas fought in his mind until the last one won. Koukan turned to Koshou. The residents in the room knew how this might play out.

"Wait," Shouryu called out. His hands grabbing onto Koshou's arm, leaving brown lines as his hand fell. He dismissed the servants leaving the three of them and the sleeping queen in the room. "Shoukei's the leader of the rebels."

"Shoukei? That's not right… Her majesty's trust in her is unshakable."

"No," Koukan interrupted. "If she is, then it changes a lot of things." He cupped his chin, hiding a smile behind his long fingers. His dark grey eyes were barely hiding the merriment that dance through it.

The room seemed to hold their breath as they waited for Koukan to explain. This, Koukan knew and took his time forming the reasoning and logic.

"I do not know for sure if this is the truth," he began. His words were slow with a contemplative tinge to it. "Roughly three years ago, Shoukei came to speak to me. She asked me if I knew Satouku. I had heard of them in the passing through Enho. Nothing substantial not until she produced a small card. It is a bit of long story to explain how she had come into possession with it, so I shall not talk about it. Satouku is an underground organization that serves the king. They answer to no one but the king and do not exist in any document. A shadow."

Shouryu nodded. He had such organizations in his kingdoms as well. There was a need for them even in times of peace.

"A shadow that the queen is not aware of due to the change of hands in the last few centuries. Since they do not exist and did not make themselves known when her majesty came to power, Shoukei was questioning their existence. Not why they existed or whether they did but their loyalty. An organization that had the power, the muscle and the network fed by the long regin of Tatsu-ou and the kings before him could be lethal or invaluable. Not knowing who was in this organization, we spoke nothing to anyone. Until we could discern their loyalties and what their plans were, we would not move. Seeing that Shoukei is the leader of the rebels and knowing that she never did anything half-hearted or anything short of perfection-"

"So she took over the leader position of Satouku because they went rogue," Shouryu nodded. The pieces were fitting into the bewildering puzzle.

"But that does not explain why she's attacking us," Koshou said.

"Conversely it does. She must not have been able to find a way to subdue them. There is only one reason why she could be attacking us," Koukan laughed. He could feel the tension rolling off as he stood from his vigil.

"To break them down." The two men stated.

"I wish she could have sent us a letter instead of going such a roundabout manner," Koukan groused though there was no heat in his words. He instructed the handmaiden that hovered far out in the hallway, too far to hear anything but close enough should they have any commands for her to summon the Left General. He didn't need to be told that Shoukei had not done that because of she was not sure of the eyes and ears that it might pass through.

Even twenty years on the throne had not allowed Yoko to eradicate all the naysayers and corrupted.


	14. En's troubles

Her head felt like it was on fire when she awoke. The room was dark. No one had bothered to light it up while she had been asleep. She shifted, trying to get a better look at the sky outside to guess what time it was. The dark shadow beside the bed shifted, touching her cheek with its rough fingers. Yoko felt something cool drape her neck.

"W-h" she tried to speak, but her tongue lay languidly in her mouth.

"Welcome back," the husky voice said. She could hear some shuffling before the smell of sulphur and the sharp bright flare that made her eyes dance. Shouryu sat in the chair beside her bed. He placed the small lamp aside and moved to sit directly beside her. "How do you feel?" He gazed at her with an odd look. In her hazy mind, Yoko found herself unable to determine what that look meant.

"Pai-n" her tongue worked hard to enunciate the simple word.

He smiled, his hand unconsciously reaching for hers. "Since we gave you the Kandi flowers, you've been asleep for a whole day and night. We were almost worried that you wouldn't wake up."

"Ka-di flo-wer?"

"The blue flowers with white tips."

She frowned. She remembered that. She remembered hunting two weeks in the yellow sea. It was a terrible quest. Why would she need to drink the Kandi flowers? Why did her head hurt? She moved to touch her head, only to find it swathed in cloth. "Jin-a-ku-" she muttered, her face bleaching what little colour she had at the memory of the man. She had trusted the man. Trusted him, enough to risk sneaking into the minister's dungeons to rescue him, but the joke was on her. The minister walked in on her while she was freeing Jinhaku and they recognized her. Thinking that it might had all been a misunderstanding, she tried to order them to free Jinhaku. They never captured Jinhaku. Jinhaku had been sitting there all the time waiting for her to come. She had been too slow to realize it was a trap. An empress had protocols to follow. Jinhaku knew she could be tricked into drinking.

"Whe' is he?" She asked in a manner as forceful as she could with her tired body.

"Dead."

"How?" She looked at Shouryu. The man that had gazed straight into her eyes a few moments ago could not seem to her eyes now. "You kille' -im? –Why?"

"I thought that I could free you from his control." He sighed. He brushed her fringe from her forehead, his brown eyes taking on a faraway look. She gripped his hands as she felt sleep drag her back. "-be here when you wake," was all she could catch before the cloak of sleep covered her.

Shouryu sat there. For long, he was uncertain. He remembered vaguely the servants coming in to put out the lights and maybe even re-lighting it for the lamp on the table was still lit. There was the ever on-going murmur from the joining room. The generals or whoever Kantai had left in charge were discussing with Koukan on tactics.

"En-Ou?"

He looked up, breaking from his thread of thoughts. Suzu stared at him and hurriedly upon realizing that he had noticed her staring, she threw her eyes onto the small bucket of water she was carrying. Her brown eyes had been filled with concern, one that Shouryu had gotten accustomed to being glanced at since he had arrived at the Kinpa Palace. He knew he looked worn out and mildly dishevelled. Maybe mildly was understating it. He sighed, lightly tugging his hoh straight. Kings were blessed with immortality were unlikely to be physically tired, only physically so it seemed.

Suzu pursed her lips, taking a careful look back at him again.

"Maybe you should rest. You seem tired." Suzu added, "Yoko- I mean, Her Majesty is in good hands here. There's half a dozen generals in the adjoining room and three shirei in her shadow should the need arise."

Shouryu chuckled. Suzu stared at him, unsure what was so funny. The chuckling went on before he sputtered into a fit of coughs.

"After all that commotion, she's in good hands now. It really is ironic."

She opened her mouth to reply but a male voice interrupted her retort.

"En-ou."

Shouryu turned to the sound of the low voice. Koukan was standing at the door. His face looked every bit grave as he did when Shouryu had entered the room with the Kandi flower.  _The man never seemed to lighten up, right Yoko?_

"The kingdom of Kei is thankful beyond words for you and En Taiho's assistance. As a civil war is imminent, we would like to urge you to return home as soon as possible."

An argument that they had gone through a few times.  _'He never really gives up._ 'He was rather reminiscent of Shukou in a way.

"Lord Koukan," Shouryu paused, his eyes landing on Suzu. She hurriedly bowed before darting out of the room. "I was going to wait for Yoko to rouse before speaking of this matter, but it seems that you won't wait that long before chasing me out."

"En-Ou I-"

He held up a hand as Koukan snorted in derision.

"It is true that the reason behind the conspiracy is clear. But I am not here because of Kei's turmoil. I came here because I was tracking the trafficking of winter blades."

Surprise flitted through Koukan's eyes. Shouryu furrowed his brows as he spoke, his voice becoming graver by the each word. "Someone is selling winter blades from En and I need to know who."

X-X-X-X

Rankei felt the cold wind caress his cheeks. There was the smell of fear in the air as the army he led drew near the capital city. Everyone knew what they were about to do was to commit treason. Did the reasons they had justified the means? Rankei by no means was forcing them to follow it through. He, himself had wordlessly watched people deflecting as they approached their destination. He gave no sign of disapproval or anger as he watched them.

This was solely their choice.

He had made it certain that they realized that.

He could see the surge of people below there. A feeling in him sank. It was cold and heavy and caught itself on his throat. Rankei swallowed, staring down at the people listlessly. Never had he dreamt that his mission and desire to help Yoko would propel him to drive a rebellion against her.

' _A "rebellion",_ ' he corrected himself.

All technicalities aside, he still could be charged for rebellion.

"Well ready or not, here we come," he muttered.

X-X-X-X

Unlike most days where he was calm and patient, Keiki found himself unable to sit still. His master was finally awake; up and about from whatever that had held her captive in her own mind. Still smelling of blood and he still bedridden from the blood sickness, he was unable to personally see her. Or rather, the fact that he was unable to stand by her as her advisor chagrined him. She had come by to visit him several times, taking much care to not linger too long so as to not aggravate his already poor condition.

"How is Master?" he asked for the umpteenth time to his shirei.

If Hankyo could display any sign of impatience or exasperation, Hankyo would have mostly definitely done so as he replied Keiki for what seemed to be the twentieth time since Keiki rose five hours ago, "There is no change in Her Majesty's condition."

Maybe the slight pause or the slow drawling speech could be considered exasperation.

"She is also here," Hankyo added with perhaps a smirk in his throaty voice before disappearing.

"Hello Keiki," Yoko greeted somewhat dispiritedly as she entered the room without her usual entourage.

"Your Majesty! Where is your handmaidens?"

She turned around, her face puzzled at his question. Her lips formed an O as she realized her ladies-in-waiting were not straggling behind as they typically did.

"Did you lose them again?" He asked sternly after a slight sigh. She was safe enough in the Seishin with not only his three shirei shadowing her but the Daiboku and his two other men surreptitiously tailing her every move. He had confirmed with his Shirei about this several times. There had been no lull in the number of competent and trustworthy men guarding her at all times as there had been previously. Regardless, no Queen should be without her entourage. It was just improper.

"I didn't _lose_  them. I  _sent_  them away."

"You sent them away," Keiki repeated flatly. He wondered how much more un-Queenly his master could be.

_I should exonerate her from such expectations I suppose. As a Queen, she is doing exceptional work._

"Your Majesty-" he started, slowly thinking of how he should praise her work. Genkun had told him after all that he had to work on his praise and cut down on his disapproval.

"Save your scolding for later. I have something important to talk to you about." Her face was impassive, empty of emotions.

Jaw working under the weight of the many things she wanted to say, Yoko found herself at lost at how to begin. The whole thing left a terrible taste in her mouth.

"The ministers are pushing to execute Shoukei and Rankei," she said quickly and blandly.

He frowned. Keiki always frowned at everything she did. Was there ever going to be a time where he didn't frown or sigh at what she did or did not do? She groaned inwardly. Were all Kirins, with the exception of Rokuta, this dour?

"Your Majesty, I believe deciding the punishment before arresting them is a bit premature."

"That is what I told them. Koukan is also advising for that, however it seems that almost majority of the ministers are in favour of that."

She fiddled with her sleeves as she remembered their insistent reasoning behind it. At least she managed to stop the damage at Shoukei and Rankei. She was almost worried that they were going to force her to oust all the others. You think that being the Queen meant that she had the absolute authority.

"It doesn't help that both Shoukei and Rankei were from the  _inner_ circle. I suspect Ringen might have been with working with them. I need to bait Ringen into falling for it." Yoko stood up abruptly, bracing herself for another of his infamous sighs. "I'm leaving this evening for the battlefield. Kantai is already there. You will stay here. Koushou will be following me. That is all."

Without waiting for a reply, she hurried out.

X-X-X-X

Yoko was tired of all these politics. Heaven knows when she would be able to finally procure ministers that were trustable as Koukan were. There was no acrimony towards Shoukei and Rankei for their actions. After considering all the possible solutions and situations, they had done what was the best action. People killed in rebellion was better than people arrested on the possibility of them rebelling. The latter always promoted more rebel growth while the former cut the lines of right and wrong well. Citizens knew the people that were arrested later and killed were clearly in the wrong. There was no need of speculation, no angry mob or behind closed door whispering.

Yoko, in retrospect, should have envisaged this. She had been too soft on the wrong doers. Koukan had demanded a more severe punishment, Shouryu had advised to be harsher but she had always been keen to give people another chance. Her fists clenched, her knuckles turning white from its exertion. Her nails imprinted small, white crescents into her palms.

Underneath Yoko's bland expression, was a cold fury that she hid well. She was not wrong. She was angry, angry not at anyone else but herself. She was a terrible queen, constantly making mistakes. She knew she relied too heavily on Shoukei. Even the ministers knew she relied heavily on Shoukei. It would not be too far-fetched that this had been a product from an estranged group of ministers. Shoukei was relying on her to put the finishing touches on the ones too high for Shoukei to bait. Yoko paused in mid-step. An idea was slowing forming in her mind.

"Hankyo. Follow Ringen and tell me who he interacts with, what he says and do."

"As you wish," the voice from her feet replied.

She had set the pieces; now all she had to do was wait from something. Turning her mind back to the conversation with Shouryu, she wondered tiredly how she was going to settle it.

_Someone is selling winter blades from En and I need to know who._

Given the amount of trouble she had been wading in, Yoko had not anticipated that this predicament also had affected other kingdoms. Had it only come from En? Was it possible that some could had come from Tai and Kou? She discussed this at great length with Shouryu and the shirei that had trailed after the carts. In the end, Shouryu had left the palace with the implicit request for her not to quell the rebellions before he told her otherwise. It was a hard promise to keep. Especially so when he provided her so little information.

Gazing out and down the sea of clouds, Yoko could almost see the city below. How many more blood had to be shed before she could rule the throne as she was told to? Sitting up above the clouds always made her feel so distant.

X-X-X-X

He pulled the hood over his head, lightly springing into the dimly lit room. His feet barely made a sound on the carpeted floor. Hidden in the shadows, he peered at the girl that hunched over the desk. She was engrossed in her work, too engrossed that she had barely registered until her bodyguard had hauled her out of the chair to place himself between her and the intruder.

"Wait," the girl called out, her hand catching the bodyguard's sleeve.

The bodyguard turned slightly to glance at his charge from the corner of his eye.

"It's okay. I was expecting him."

He growled a bit, muttering under his breath about people being unable to use the door as he returned to his spot.

"What can I do for you, En-Ou?" She asked, bowing at him.

"You were expecting me?" Shouryu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Eventually you'd come to a dead end while searching information about the Tokis. Then you'd look for the most likely person to hold information." Shoukei smiled humourlessly. "I suppose you've gone through the same locations and people as Yoko had?"

"Yes."

Shoukei turned to Youtashi, "Would you bring Rou here?"

Shouryu had expected that she would have had Rou. He had scoured the places and sent his shirei to find Rou, only to find him with Shoukei. Yoko had expressed a confidence in Rou and he felt inclined to believe in her confidence.

The man that was called Rou came in tottering behind the lean bodyguard. Grey haired and small beady eyes gave him a shady look. Rou scanned the room before seeing Shouryu standing in the shadows. Unsure of what to say, he bowed.

"What can I do for you?" he asked in his weasely voice.

"What do you know about the Tokis?"

"Not as much as you think, to be honest. I had been the main go-to person after her majesty had installed me in. However before me was a man called Ringyou. He had mysteriously disappeared not long after I came."

"Ringyou?"

Shoukei passed a piece of paper to him. On it was a drawing of a man, hair that was a shock of blue and brown eyes. There was nothing particularly special about him, but there was something familiar about him. Shouryu tapped his mouth, thinking hard about this Ringyou.

"He was the one who had established the trade routes and the people along the routes. It changed hands regularly with almost six other people doing that I did. It was difficult to tell from which they were from."

He threw three tokis at Shouryu's feet.

"They're all from different kingdoms."

Bending over them, Shouryu inspected them with an expert eye. The hilts and sheaths had each kingdom's distinct designs on them: En, Ryuu and Kou.

"Much of them were from En."

So it seemed that the numbers that he had noticed going missing was barely the surface. What was the real motive? Money? Discord? Reputation? Pride? Shouryu could not fathom what or why any of his ministers would do such a thing. Was the system rotting without him realizing? He stared hard at the drawing.

"Looks like- Ringen?" Shouryu mumbled.

"Sorry, when I saw that man, I took the opportunity to ask Rakushun to do some investigating."

She handed him another piece of paper. This time was a family registry. On it clearly said that Ringen was not related to Ringyou. Shouryu turned away. He knew who Ringyou reminded him of.

"Rikaku." He called out, as he leapt out of the window. The shirei appeared instantly, catching him on its back. "En."

The shirei flew spiralling into the air. The man was one of his minor sages. He was not so great a king to remember every single of his staff but he remembered this man's face. He had not understood why back then for there was something about him that made Shouryu notice him. The man was exceedingly careful around him. Most people were careful around him in fear or in awe, but that man was neither.

"Kibou. Find Ryouryu and make sure he does not leave the palace. I want him alive."

Shouryu ran a list of things he had to accomplish and do.

X-X-X-X

It was almost dawn when he arrived at the Genei palace. Tired and mentally exhausted, Shouryu slid off the shirei. The doors had already swung open when the guards had seen him on the horizon. It was not hard for them to guess who it was seeing that it was a shirei and all.

"Your majesty." They greeted, kneeling face down on the ground.

Shouryu strode forward purposefully, his mind occupied on other things had barely registered the kneeling ministers and servants as he advanced deeper into the palace. It was another five minutes of meandering through the long palace halls where he finally stopped in front of a set of doors.

"Your majesty-" Hakutaku called out, finally catching up with him. He was not very pleased with Shouryu's and Rokuta's long disappearance. It had almost been two months since they  _disappeared_. Sure they had disappeared longer than that before, but at least they had the decency on letting themselves be contactable. Especially when they wandered into Sou. Hakutaku had thought this might had been one of those times.

Shouryu turned to face him. His face was hard. His eyes lacked any mischievous mirth that it always seemed to have. His majesty was on business. Regardless of any unhappiness he had with En-ou's recently behaviour, it would have to wait until he was done with his business.

"Is he here?" Shouryu asked.

It was not directed to him but to his feet as it was the voice beneath his feet that replied. "Yes."

Shouryu motioned at the doors and the servants swung it open. In it was a lowly minister. Ryouryu, if Hakutaku remembered correctly. He walked into it and glanced at Hakutaku.

"Well come in, if you're going to listen in," he said, though the tone was more commanding than nonchalant. It carried barbs that even Hakutaku rarely heard in his all five hundred years of service.

Shouryu motioned to the doors again as Hakutaku stepped it. The servants closed the doors behind them, leaving only Shouryu, Hakutaku and the lowly minister in the room.

"Rikaku. Summon Shukou, Seishou and his two subordinates here."

"As you wish," the voice permeated from the ground."

It seemed like years before Hakutaku finally heard the pounding down the hallway. In those brief moments of silence, he had never felt more awkward with his majesty than before. Shouryu had stared, or rather glared at the quavering minister so hard that Hakutaku had to wonder what on earth had the minister done.

Shukou, Seishou burst into the room, followed closed by his two subordinates, Kouho and Souzai.

"Your majesty?" Hakutaku asked.

The sound of the doors slamming shut reverberated in the long silence.

Shouryu did not even glance at the newcomers or even when the doors slammed shut. They were beginning to think that his majesty had forgotten that they were standing there.

"Tell me, Ryouryu, how long has this been going on?" Shouryu said in a hard voice. He sat down and poured himself a cup of tea. Despite the seemingly easygoing actions, his movements were stiff. "If you tell me the truth, I might go easy on you."

Ryouryu gulped audibly. His hands were clasped before him tightly entwined together. Shouryu chugged the cup of tea down before slamming the cup so hard onto the table that it smashed.

"Tell me! Was the money good?" Shouryu unsheathed the blade from his belt. He eyed the blade and then the hilt. "It's quite a good blade. One of the second grade ones, I might add."

"Was it just you?" He turned to Ryouryu. "No it wasn't, was it?"

"Your majesty- I-" Ryouryu started, his tongue failing him desperately. "I-"

"Did you know about this, Seishou?" Shouryu shook his head. "You didn't did you? That look in your eye tells me so. But not for your subordinate."

Shukou pursed his lips. "Your majesty. Perhaps it might be good to start from the beginning."

X-X-X-X

_Fight not with pride but with the acknowledgement that every stroke is heavy. Only then can you consider yourself as a true warrior._

Rankei had always thought he understood what Tai-Ou had meant when he had told him that. However standing on the brink of a war, it was only then he truly understood it. He had been talking about the weight of death. Breaking in and out of jail was nothing compared to the battlefield.

His arms ached. He was disgusted at himself for even thinking of that. How many people would have been happy to be sitting in his position thinking of his aching arms. Rankei had done his best to spare as many as he could. Eventually it was his fatigue that had claimed many of their lives. He sagged heavily against his sword. Almost all his army was annihilated. Just as planned.

The girl made her way through the tired men, some barely noticing her in their exhaustion. She stopped in front of Rankei, unsure of how she was going to begin.

"Youshi?" Rankei said tentatively. There was an unreadable look on her face as she looked down upon him.

"I'm not angry, if that's what you're going to ask." She replied softly to the unasked question. Placing her hand onto his sweaty shoulder, she gripped it tightly in a non-verbal gratitude that she found difficult to vocalize. "You accomplished what you needed to do. Now I need you to get Shoukei and go to En."

"You mean- to flee?" His voice cracked at the last syllable. There was dismay on his face as he continued, "Are the ministers forcing you?"

Yoko shook her head with a sigh. "We need to buy some time."

"Your majesty." Came the disembodied voice from her shadow. "They're coming."

"Hurry!" She practically hurled Rankei from his seat. "Tama is behind the inn."

She turned and did not look back, but Rankei did. As he did it, he wondered how long it would be before he would see her again.

 


	15. Koukushin

Exhausion.

When Yoko came into power, all she had done was listen to grown men bicker like children. Men that had grown fat and blind from the past queens were slow to realize that she was not going to put up with it. It was only after the exile of the thirteenth minister that they finally started panicking. The ministers were terrible, unlike Shouryu who had at least the bare twenty people to depend on, Yoko had but ten. They had run themselves ragged trying to rebuild the impoverished Kei and though Kei was starting to flourish, the effects were small and slow. The older ministers were unwilling to listen to her. Common queen they would mock her behind her back. Yoko found it extremely exasperating. They complained how ineffective she seemed yet was reluctant to help her. It was like screaming that the house was on fire and then they turned off the water supply. Was she not the legitimate ruler?

Yoko's mouth twitched into a wry smile as she pondered over the situation. It seemed funny that Heaven gave her the throne, yet every time things began to look up, they threw something else at her. It was as though the heavens were taunting her and laughing at her. Tiredly, she rubbed her forehead, watching the waitress pour her a cup of tea before whisking away to put in an order for Yoko's food. First it was that fake queen, then the Wa province upheaval, the six ministers rebellions and now this. More like first it was Keiki being kidnapped then the fake queen. She swore a little, her fist falling a little too heavily onto the table. Startled, the customers nearby stared at her wide eyed. Under normal circumstances, Yoko would have done her best not to draw attention to herself. Her hair was usually dyed and clothes were usually mildly grimy, all calculated to the maximum effect of blending in. However this time, she wanted to draw attention. Her bright red hair was practically an invitation for speculation whether she was the queen, not to mention her clothes were rather expensive looking and extremely clean. She had delayed the surrender of the rebellion forces by almost two weeks. Shouryu had left for En almost three weeks ago, he should have had settled the matter. Having left implicit instructions should Shouryu send word, Yoko had started to worry that maybe things were worse in En than he had anticipated.

'First focus on Kei,' she muttered. Perhaps her head was really hurting and it was not some phantom pain that royal physician had suggested.

Phantom pain, as if. Yoko scoffed; she was not so weak to fall prey to such things.

Shoukei and Keikei had baited the large portion of the dissidents, furthermore gave her the perfect reason to do a witch hunt. It had not worked quite as well as they had planned it to be. Shoukei, without a doubt, would have planned it so that Yoko would not to send them out of Kei for their well being. Shoukei would have also tied things up a little neater. A large portion of the people she had captured had been followers. She was still missing the masterminds – the real masterminds. What their real goals were, how many, where they were from, Yoko had no answers to them. Shoukei put them at maybe five, Rankei suggested eight or nine. She had been wandering through the streets with her bright red hair to see if she could rouse any reaction, but weeks passed and still nothing. From their actions, Yoko had assumed that their goal was the throne, but if they had not even attempted to capture her then perhaps it wasn't. It was a reason that she preferred it to be. The solutions to those reasons were easy and uncomplicated, at least not as complicated as what the solutions might have to been if the reasons weren't. What other reasons could it be? She had checked carefully if there had been some underlining reason why the ministers had rebelled. Was there some strange resource or maybe an abusive minister? She had uncovered nothing, not even from the so-called masterminds. They all had their own motives varying from feeling unappreciated after supporting the kingdom through the hard times to simply wanting power. It lacked the unifying motive and strength to tie and push the whole rebellion to its current state. Shoukei and Rankei had not fed the motives but rather merely routed it to a state that was easier for Yoko to resolve.

Let's start with the main gist of the rebellion. Yoko mentally replayed the whole fiasco, ticking each point with her fingers. First, Shoukei had found the previous King's shadow organization for Kei and it was corrupted. Second, she tried to remove the corruption but was unable to. She then tried to find a way of removing the organization which consequently led her to realize a number of ministers that had merged into a whole cluster of something called big trouble. Third, Shoukei realized the easier way to get rid of it was to let it bloom fully so they could remove the entire plant in one shot.

Yoko gazed out of the window she sat by. She hadn't noticed, but the window provided a nice clear view of the Tougoku mountains. It rose high up into the sky, pass the sea of clouds. Up there would be the Bu governor's palace. Now it would be empty seeing that she had just removed him from the sage's list. The offices would largely be empty as well since a lot of his ministers had joined the rebellion. Rakushun would be in there, temporarily working for her until she could find someone trustworthy.

She had found Sekki in one of the rooms in there. Thin lines wrought his face. His eyes seemed to have almost sunk into his face. His arms were too thin for his frame when he clasped his hands together to bow. The Hekisoujo had been working overtime to keep him alive. They had denied him of food after Shoukei left with Keikei. They guessed that Sekki was one of Yoko's trusted allies by then and short of killing him, they had made his life a living hell. To be honest, they couldn't have killed him even if they wanted to. It was not as though they didn't try.

"Your majesty." A low voice called out from beneath her feet.

She nodded almost indiscernibly.

"The man is making a move."

Pulling a long sip, she muttered, "Are they coming to me?"

"No. It appears that they have no interest in you."

The queen was out down below, looking for the culprits. That rumour had circulated enough for it to come back to her. If they were bold enough to raise a rebellion to take over Kinpa Palace, then they would be bold enough to try to assassinate the Queen without her guards. So the throne was truly not their goal. They smuggled huge sums of Toki, rebelled – for what ends? The unanswered question hung ominously over her head like an axe.

She turned her head to catch a glimpse of the man. The man that strolled down the neatly paved stones seemed uncaring of any watching eyes. Pausing as at a street vendor, he seemed to contemplate and then banter one of the goods. Yoko hesitated in her reflection of the man's purpose. It was unlikely that the shirei had found the wrong man. Conversely, the man could have been a cover or the cover had been another man and he felt it was unlikely that he would be found. Her fingers tapped the side of the cup as she watched him cross the street.

She looked down at her shadow, surprised. "Is it him?"

Getting up, she threw some coins onto the table. The red head was halfway down the street by the time she had slung her sword over her back and down into the dark alley before the waitress even registered that she had left.

The man crossed yet another street. The fourth street, she was counting. There was carelessness in his posture that reminded her strongly of Shoukou. His dark grey hair and the features on the face did bear quite a resemblance. Yoko would not have hesitated on considering that the man might be Shoukou, except that he was the only minister in all the ministers that she dismissed that was executed. She might not have enjoyed it, but she had watched his execution too. Some of the soldiers that had been under his rule cheered and there were many celebrations that night. Yoko did not participate. Instead she sat in the dark of her room, watching the unkyo wondering that if she could have foreseen it or stopped it. She was the Queen, God in some people's eyes, but she was far from perfect. She knew that. She knew of all her flaws and faults and frequently wondered why Keiki had even picked her. Though that had been almost sixteen years ago, it seemed that another Shoukou lookalike was back to haunt her. She scrutinized him. The look in his eyes was very much like Shoukou. Was it a reincarnation? She almost scoffed at her thoughts before realizing one crucial fact. If in this world, there are immortals and flying beasts that transform into man, what made her think reincarnation was impossible?

"Ringen-" She muttered, as though savouring the word. The man was an enigma. He had a plot of land up north near Gantou and a plot down south in You province. Why would anyone get two plot of lands so far from each other? It wasn't feasible unless you put in trading or smuggling in this case from the neighbouring countries. Yet when asked to describe Ringen, the description of the man was different. Some described him as a dark skinned, tall, fair, short, fat, muscular. All contradictory and the minister that was called Ringen was none of those. The minister, Ringen was a soft spoken man of average height, not fat nor skinny, not fair or dark skinned, just average.

The man, shifted his head quickly around. The carelessness in his posture was overlaid now with a tension. It had all been an act and he was a terribly good actor until now. Yoko pulled her thoughts together as she watched him go into a building. She would have to follow him now to solve the mystery once and for all.

With quick feet, Yoko made for the alley adjacent to the building. There was no need for her to order the shirei to check the building. Having served her for the last ten years had enabled them to foretell her next commands would be.

"There are ten men on the first floor and twenty on the second. The man, Ringen is on the third. There is only six men on the third floor."

"Great. Just great." Yoko grunted in displeasure, her eyes scanning the sides of the building for anything that could get her up to the third floor. There was a small tiny tree that went halfway to the second floor. If the vines on the side of the other building could bear her weight long enough, she might just be able to jump to the side and grab the edges of the window. Gingerly placing her weight onto the small scraggily tree, she had almost leapt off the vines when the disembodied voice startled her.

"Your majesty- I can fly you up there."

She palmed her forehead, forgetting the entirely too obvious way up there. Straddling Hankyo, Hankyo leapt up the building. Yoko could feel his powerful body as he leapt then hovered near the window.

"...failed..."

She nudged Hankyo, moving even closer to the window. Yoko sneaked a peak in the room, jerking back in alarm as she realized someone was sitting back facing the window. Three at the table while the other two were standing. They looked familiar.

"Of course it failed, we all knew it would. None of us had actually planned for it to succeed," the tall, muscular one replied hotly.

"Don't deny it Ringyou. You were practically hysterical when Jin captured the Queen." Unable to get a look at the speaker, Yoko dubbed him as quaverer for his voice was quavering as though he was scared.

Ringyou huffed. Jerking his thumb at the man at the window, he replied, "Maito also was worried then."

"Don't go adding words into other people's mouth. Besides, we're not blaming anyone."

"In any case we need to decide our next steps," the fat man interjected.

"Do you think the queen will get the rest? Jin said that she had been tracking the tokis and even sent her lackey in. Not to mention our Kou and En contacts have disappeared. She's probably behind that."

Kou and En contact disappeared? Yoko thought with a frown. Shouryu might have gotten his hands on the En contact, but Kou? She hadn't even gotten to talking about Kou. Admittedly she had forgotten about Kou because there was a substantial difference in the amount of tokis from En and Kou. But they were waiting for her to  _get the rest_? You mean, they weren't  _the rest_?

"Shoukei disappeared too along with the lackey. She was behind it the whole time. That little b-"

The man by the window started laughing. It was not just any laughter. He laughed and laughed, clutching his sides as he doubled over in laughter.

"Mai?"

Hankyou ducked beneath the balcony of neighbouring balcony. Through its planks, Yoko could make out the window. The man had turned around to stare into the sky. The man, he was the one that looked like Shoukou! Wasn't he called Ringen? But the other man called him Maito.

Ringen or Maito wiped his tears away as his laughter finally died down. "Another Queen. They say she's decent considering she had managed to stay longer than the past three queens. We were all pining on her to destroy it when we should have been trying to destroy it ourselves. Haven't we been around longer than the  _Queen_?"

A silence fell over them as they contemplated his question.

"We could have. Might have. Things need to be ended officially. Wasn't that what you taught us? We could have destroyed it ourselves, but it would have an effect on Kei-ou's government. But I'm sure what I'm going to say is true not just for me, but to you-" The quaverer responded at length. "We only bothered because it was her. You've seen what she had done. She's- not just trying to make this kingdom prosperous, she's trying to shape the soul of it."

Yoko twitched at his words, feeling a flush of heat like she had been lying in the sun for far too long. For most people, she had heard the lack of faith in her abilities whether it was intentionally or unintended. The people of Kei pined for Tatsu.

"Thank you-" she said. If it had not been unqueenly to do so, Yoko would have flung herself at him, blubbering in relief and gratitude. Then Keiki would sigh in disappointment yet again.

"Who's there!" The quaverer asked, pushing Maito into the room and drawing his sword.

She could feel Hankyo hackles raised as he began a low growl. Patting him absentmindedly, she nudged him forward from under the balcony.

"Kei-ou," she replied. She gave them a small smile as they gaped at her. "and thank you."

She bowed deeply. Her heart was singing, her mind still replaying their words.

"We didn't-" The fat man started. "I mean- We thought-"

The quaverer was a young man that was shorter than her but had long white scars running down his exposed forearms. "What Ryouto wanted to say was we thought you'd be going after the masterminds and not here. Wasn't it why you blatantly exposed your possible Queen status in town?"

"I thought I found the masterminds," the red head sighed. Crossing her arms with a mock angry look, she continued, "It'd seem that my detectives found the  _wrong_  masterminds."

Laughter rang through the wooden room. Their bodies trembled as they struggled to stop laughing to no avail.

"Wrong masterminds-" howled Ryouto as he almost got a grip of his laughing.

Yoko waved her hands, clutching her stomach as she wiped the tears away. Taking large gulps of air, she sobered up.

"It seems that I'll need to talk sternly to my investigators. And while they work on that, perhaps you could tell me what exactly is going on."

That got them sober fast, their heads bowed, falling into deferential positions.

"You mean you didn't know yet-? I thought you were supposed to tell Queen!" Ringen rounded to a man standing in the shadows.

"No one told me anything."

Youtashi stepped out of the shadows. His eyebrows knotted tightly as he stared at her.

"I apologize, your highness. I was given the mission to inform you of the real situation but there wasn't a good timing to do so without giving my cover away. At that point no one in the group knew of me being an ally. Rishou and Shinzou were highly suspicious of me and to give my cover away would mean that I would be unable to come to aid should the need arise. Please forgive me, I was unable to stop you from falling into Jinhaku's trap." He fell onto a knee, his head bowed with shame.

Yoko stared at him, her mouth slightly gaping at him. With the three of them having betrayed her, she had assumed that Youtashi had been like them.

"I forgive you," she finally said, her voice sounding smaller than it usually was. Clearing her throat, she turned to Maito with a raised eyebrow.

Maito chuckled. "Well let's start from the beginning then." He motioned at the hot tea that he just poured. "I am Mai Tokuhoushi. It's a long surname, hence why I'm referred mostly as Maito. I am, I mean I was the leader and founder of Hetaito. That's the real name of the organization you approached. We use code words like Satouku to differentiate the access levels which also factors into the urgency level. Satouku is the level for Haku level sages and above – which by the way means extremely high urgency. I ran Hetaito for almost two hundred years before stepping down. My successor was Jinhaku."

His smiling face hardened. "He was a good man."

"He ran Hetaito well," Ringen said softly. His words almost seemed to comfort. "He really did."

"Well, I was tired of running an organization and the immense responsibility so I passed it to my successor and went to see the world."

"Jinhaku continued well into Gyou-ou's rule but at the end of her rule, he decided that if legitimate rulers couldn't do the job well then why not him." Youtashi said after Maito lapsed into silence. He clenched his fists as he continued. His voice dropping to a barest whisper, his knuckles turning white. "He then brainwashed much of the Hetaito as well Bu province's ministers. Those that would not submit were killed quietly. Mai was missing, we had no idea how to contact him and for centuries we were out of touch from the royal palace and the original liaison had passed away. So with only the seven of us willing to make a stand, we had to do it intelligently. Rather than smuggling tokis from Kou which would have been far safer and discreet, we took it from En. Our ruse was that En's weapons were better since their kingdom had a far longer period of peace to cultivate it. We had few allies, so in order to identify each other, we introduced ourselves as Ringen."

Yoko snapped her head to the man she thought was Ringen. "No wonder the descriptions didn't match up! I thought he was Ringen."

The man she once thought was Ringen gave her a wry smile. "I'm Ginpa." Then pointing to the quaverer and lean, suntanned man, he said, "Kahoki and Ikoshi."

It must have her comment that changed the tension in the room. The dark sombre atmosphere was lighter, almost cheerful. Of course, she had not commented just because she realized it. Yoko had become far more adept in monitoring room tensions and atmospheres and changing it to suit her needs in her last twenty years of rule. Maito sat before her, he seemed to lean on his wrist in an almost carefree manner. His eyes however were brooding and filled with what she supposed must be guilt. Hetaito was his child and he should have looked after it better. Those were probably his thoughts. There would be a time to deal with the guilt that he probably did not really deserve, but it was not the time now. She had far too more significant things to deal with that were considered imperative. So she simply laughed, her green eyes gliding over the faces in the room; her mind was mentally working on the reasons and explanations, filing away the faces and names for later references and deliberation.

"Then what happened?"

"I noticed the smuggling and slipped in to find out what was going on only to find out that everyone was either corrupted or unwilling to  _different_." She was surprised that Maito picked up the story where Youtashi had left off. His grey eyes flickered over her face, catching her green eyes for a moment. There was an imperceptible meaning in them – almost judging.

"Unable to recover authority or loyalty, I decided to take it down. Destroying essential buildings discreetly."

"Wait," she grabbed his hand at the revelation. "Shoukei was trying to take the organization down as well. Why didn't you just work with her?"

He shook his head. "Our means to the end were incongruent. Shoukei wanted to expose them so the Queen could officially get rid of them which was extremely messy as you know. I wanted to do away with them and the organization as neatly and quickly as possible. Though, things spun out of control for both of us. Sensing your subordinates' danger, I sent Youtashi to retrieve and protect them."

"Your majesty- Do you believe in Heaven's will?" Maito asked in a tightly controlled voice. He continued with the shake of her head. "You were born in Hourai. Have you ever wondered why?"

Pacing the room, he gestured vaguely with his observations. "You were sixteen when you ascended. Kei Taiho took two years to find you. The Queen before that ruled six years. Gyou-ou, the Queen before You-ou ruled for four with an interim of twenty-one years. If you were born in Kei as you should have, you would have been either killed or exiled like plenty of the women were during her reign. Or killed during Gyou-ou's reign. Was it a coincidence that your ranka was swept away in a storm? I think not."

The red head did not respond to his rambling. Shoukou had talked about Heaven's Will. In a land where God was visible in all aspects of life, she did not think that she would encounter the age old topic of her homeland.  _Was there Fate? Was Fate unstoppable?_

"And your point being?" She responded with a passive voice.

"I just thought it was interesting." He remarked. He stopped his pacing, his gesturing hands falling to the sides. "Interesting that you'd appear before us instead of the people that should have been found. No." He corrected himself, "You found us because we were the most obvious answers. Who is Ringen? Why are they doing this? Come, I'll show you."

He spun around and headed towards the door.

X-X-X-X

They had been riding with an easy pace, much unlike the pace she was used to whenever she was down below. Being down below had always been accompanied with tension, anxiety and fear that she could not voice. First it was her journey from Japan to Kou then Kei, then recovering her throne, the rebellion in Wa, the three ministers rebellion. She heaved a sigh; though whether it was from relief or exasperation, Yoko herself was unsure.

"Something the matter, your majesty?" Kahoki asked. His voice had a tremulous tone to it, had she not have known that it was his usual voice, she might have mistaken him for being afraid. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if his voice had ever gotten him into trouble. Judged for being quiet, judged for sounding fearful, judged for being a female queen. Mentally adding to her ever-growing list, Yoko privately decided that her life's duty as the Queen of Kei would be to have the citizen of Kei, open, honest and not judgemental. Tall orders she had sent for herself.

"Nothing-" she started before pausing. Her brows knotted into concentration as she pondered over another life's greatest mystery.

"What do you think of Heaven's Will?"

He gaped at her, taken aback by her sudden question from a conversation three days ago. He scratched his head, slowly choosing his words or maybe just hesitant and guarded. "I don't think it has anything to do with me. Maybe if you were a king or praying for a child. But does it really exist?"

"Kahoki- you're only saying that because you're single!" Ginpa interjected, pulling his Kijyuu beside them. "Take a look at me! It's because Heaven bestowed on me that's why I have six gorgeous daughters! I believe in Heaven's Will!"

"Six daughters-"

"Soon seven!" Ginpa laughed loudly.

"Are you trying to make a whole village by yourself?"

"I can't help it! It's Heaven's Will!"

"I think you're going to run out of money to feed them first-"

The good natured bantering gradually died as the group neared the edge of En. The village that housed the plot of land loomed closer. Plots of land near En had always been the safer ones. They were always full of people, filled to its capacity. This village however was empty.

The half upright shutter waved futilely in the breeze that they brought as they landed. The houses were broken, abandoned with walls falling in disrepair and large gaping holes were the roofs were. One of the walls that had paved a majesty house once had crumbled into small broken bits. This was the plot of land that Yoko had been interested in: the plot of land at the end of Kei – or so it seemed to be.

A loud deafening silence had built up as they walked through the village. It felt like a great barrier that even Yoko found herself finding an excuse to fill her ears with noise even if it meant coughing rather loudly. The group turned at her and Ginpa proffered her some water to ease her 'coughing'. Finally they stopped at a patch of land, Maito turned and nodded to one of the men. The men reappeared almost instantaneously with shovels.

"Do you know who owns this land?" Maito asked softly. He arched a quizzical eyebrow at her.

She nodded. "Jinhaku?"

He shook his head. Turning his attention back to the men who had been dutifully digging without a single command, he pursed his lips, quietly watching their painful progress through the stony field.

"It did belong to Jinhaku, but it didn't belong to him. He did use Ringen's name as a cover without realizing what it truly referred to. Or maybe even used it to throw people off knowing what it meant. Anyway, he was intermediary for it. It was owned by a man called Ryouryu."

"From En," he added upon noticing Yoko's blank look.

Yoko's blank look was soon replaced by a look of horror as she stared down what their digging had started to reveal. Thin and white bones with varying degrees of decay. Piles and piles of them.

"Is this whole field-"

She did not need to finish her question for Maito nodded gravely. It was a child's skull that was revealed in another part of the field.

"Did he-" she faltered, her chest seemed to wench when she began to form her deductions. She couldn't take their words for real. She couldn't.

Spinning on her heel, she walked away – or fled would have been a better description, from the group. She swallowed shallowly, her face almost breaking the cool mask that she slipped on in down below. She clasped her chin with her hands, taking long shuddering breaths as she retreated from the group. There was a mix of fury and disgust at both herself and the one capable of such things that it seemed to overwhelm her. Not realizing where she had walked to, she entered one of the houses, freezing her step. It was not the missing roof or the missing wall for that matter that brought her frantic pacing to a standstill.

It was the table.

The table had straps on it with dark splotches staining its wood and floor. She did not need to make great leaps of thoughts to figure what had happened here. Her sword shone blue.

She did not want to see it.

Her hands shook violently as she removed the sword's wrapping.

A man was looking at the house with Jinhaku.

"This is the house and the land you requested, Ryouryu. What do you plan to do with it?"

A smirk, coy and mocking, tugged at his lips as he replied, "Do you want to know?"

"No, not really. I'll have the toki you promised, regardless. The less I know, the better off I'll be."

The scene shifted.

The man gleefully tied the girl to the table. The girl was not more than fifteen.

"Hands first? Or feet?" He smiled, holding up what seemed to be an awl in his hands.

"Please. No."

"No?" he smiled wider this time. "I guess I get to choose then and I choose feet!" Swinging the awl, he hummed as he drove into her feet. She screamed till she had no voice to scream, dropping to the table like a doll. She was just a doll to him.

The sword fell from Yoko's shaking hands. Stumbling out of the door, her noon meal made an ungracious appearance on the floor.

"Hankyou," Yoko called out finally, mastering her breaths again. She schooled her face into the cool, blank mask, scrubbing the tear stains from her dusty face with her equally dusty sleeves. "Fly as fast as you can and tell En-ou what happened here. Tell him, I demand a harsh, the harshest possible punishment."

Were they citizens of Kei? It was very likely that his first victims were from this village itself, but it did not matter where they were from. Gripping her still trembling hands, she re-evaluated her actions and options.

X-X-X-X

Seishou listened and while he listened all he could think of was of how such a matter had bypassed him altogether.

The trembling man in front of him had been pushing tokis off as "unusable" and then selling it off to another man. All for the considerable amount of money and favours that they promised him. Was Ryouryu blinded by money that he was going to break one of the many Heaven's laws just for that? Seishou would have mocked anyone who would have suggested Ryouryu doing that. He had personally promoted the man. He had known Ryouryu way before either of them became immortals.

"Your majesty. Please punish me as well. I was blinded by my trust in him."

Shouryu looked at Seishou then at Ryouryu. Ryouryu had confessed to it. It was a serious punishment. Punishable by death just by the amount of quantities and if not the deed itself. He had been a fool, a greedy fool. "Naive fool," Shouryu said. "Do you really think you could get off it scat free? I sentence Ryouryu to death. Guards!" It was clear and precise, disdain dripping down his flat voice.

The doors burst open and the guards hauled the now crying man away. They could hear him wailing even with the doors closed.

Seishou lay prostrated on the ground. The man had always been serious about his work. Shouryu tapped his finger against his sword's hilt. "And for Seishou, for not properly checking," Shouryu paused, squatting down in front of the prostrating Seishou. "I sentence you to go to Shou Province and work at the Green Turtle inn until I say otherwise."

"Your majesty? I don't understand-"

"Er- I got some debts there, I kinda ran away –"

"Your majesty!" Hakutaku roared.

"How much did you lose?"

Shouryu coughed. "1000ryou" He replied really quickly.

"1000 RYOU!?"

"I'm going to be working there for a really long time, aren't I?" Seishou gazed blankly at Shukou.

"At least ten years," Shukou replied.

X-X-X-X

It was very late at night and two weeks later when he was rudely awaken by a very large white shadow.

"What is it Kibou?"

"I apologize for waking you up, En-ou. I am Kei taiho's shirei."

This had to be bad news. He groaned before pulling himself up. "Tell me."

He sat by the window, taking in every word that Hankyo relayed to him. His body going absolutely still, save for the movement of his chest. His mind had processed what he had heard. Far graver, far worse than what he could have thought possible from that timid man. That man wasn't timid. He wasn't greedy. It had been all a cover. Being greedy was pardonable, being timid was pardonable but killing people for pleasure wasn't.

"Thank you Hankyo. Tell Kei-ou that I will do my best."

" Unfortunately there isn't anything worse than the death penalty," he added dryly after the shirei had left.

It was good that Ryouryu's execution was only due the day after, Shouryu supposed as he pulled on his hoh and headed towards the cells with sword in hand. He stared at the man who sat resigned in the cell.

"Your majesty," he bowed. His fingers were trembling. Was he truly afraid?

"So I've heard you've enjoyed your time off in Kei, I thought that we should let you enjoy some of Kei's finest attractions on your last day of living," Shouryu said.

"Bring a table," he said to the guard. "A large one. Large enough to fit a man of his size."

Shouryu pointed at Ryouryu. Colour had fled Ryouryu's face. Shouryu smiled at him, but there was no mirth in it, only cold fury and disgust. "I heard you enjoyed this."

X-X-X-X

The light was reflecting off the turquoise tiled roof as they entered the Kinpa palace. A month had passed since they had  _fled_  Kei and then another three months before Keiki had come to fetch them. He had been ordered to go to En to fetch them and show Kei's gratitude for En's assistance. It was a really strange order when she was told by Keiki. Keiki had brought with him a large entourage of dancers and crafters to please En-ou. En-ou  _gratefully_ obliged by insisting they stay for another whole two weeks.

Genei palace was not uncomfortable. As respected guests of En-ou, they had been given almost anything they wanted. They still missed Kinpa palace. The vibes differed from palace to palace and Rankei missed travelling. There was nothing stopping Rankei from travelling, but Yoko had requested him to stay at En and by that she had referred to stay with En-ou, so repressing his desires to roam, he stayed where En-ou had placed him. Shoukei remembered the palace to constantly have a buzz. The ministers were moving back and forth with their work, standing in corners discussing about things. In certain parts of the palace you could even hear the muted quarrelling of opposition ministers. That was the palace that Shoukei had left from. The Kinpa palace she returned to was silent. The sound of her footstep echoed through the hallways. Even Rankei had paused at the door to what had been one of the noisiest rooms in the palace. The servants still hovered around, cleaning the floors and hallways, but there not a minister in sight.

"Welcome back-" a cheery voice called out from behind. Though it was soft, it seemed to expand and hover in the empty silence.

Suzu waved at the duo, her eyes twinkling in delight as her arms waved from side to side. Then motioning them to follow her, Suzu turned around to the hallway where she must have come from. She wasn't wearing her typical uniform which struck Shoukei as strange. Suzu had refused any position except Yoko's personal handmaid on the reasoning that she wasn't used to being anything but a servant.

"Where are we going?" Shoukei asked, noticing that they going to neither the great hall nor Yoko's private study.

"Somewhere I thought you might be interested in. He's still recovering so he can't come out and meet you."

Shoukei stared at Suzu puzzled.

"I meant Sekki," Suzu added after realizing that Shoukei had not understood. Rankei lingered behind as they approached a narrow hallway that sectioned off the ministers and Haku sages area, unsure if he was meant to follow. "You'll want to see this Rankei."

In the middle of the hallway, were several ministers loitering about and looking up at a board. "What-" Shoukei began asking as she found her name with a corresponding rank and position. "Is this a notice for position change or something? I'm a Taisai and that you're a- Choushi"

Shoukei turned back at Suzu, taking a long hard look at Suzu. Her clothes were right for a Choushi.

"Well it says I'm a Shoushiba- Wait. What?" Rankei pointed angrily at the board. "She made me a Shoushiba!? How dare she!"

He turned around with the right mind of storming into Yoko's office and rant loudly. He didn't deserve being given a rank. Rankei trotted down the empty hallways before spying Koshou standing outside one of the inner palace's room. Having been the  _adopted_  son of Kei-ou and grown up in the palace, he was a familiar to the guards who had not even bothered to stop him or call ahead for permission to let him in.

"You're back!" Koshou grinned, ruffled his hair before slapping his meaty hand onto Rankei's shoulders. "How was En?"

"It was boring. You know how En is. You've been there many times," he grumbled, shaking Koshou's heavy arm away. He hated how Koshou always seem treat him as a kid. Koshou stopped him as he reached for the doors.

"I don't think you should go in right now," Koshou said.

"Why? Who's inside?" Now he was extremely curious. There had been very few cases where he was not permitted to enter. Yoko should have known that he would come straight to her right after seeing the ranks on the newly created notice board.

"Well-" Glancing at the door, he dropped to a low whisper, "Kantai is inside at the moment."

Kantai? Rankei stared at Koshou in disbelief. Why was he being stopped for Kantai? Then before Koshou could stop him, he flung the doors open and shut behind him.

"Keikei?" He flinched unconsciously at the name and the tone of voice. Yoko was angry, very angry in fact. "Did Koshou not tell you to come in?" Her voice was sharp like invisible barbs cutting into his skin. She heaved a loud sigh, clasping her forehead. The jade ornaments hanging down her hair jangled from her sudden movement. She was wearing full formal wear. Rankei froze at that realization. Yoko almost never wore formal wear. She glared at him, her bright emerald eyes were hard, just like her slim hands that lay on the table.

"What's going-" His eyes darted around the room, searching for the friendly face Koshou had mentioned. Kantai was standing in a corner. His armor was dusty, just like his face. It was as though he jumped off the Kijyuu and came straight here. Kantai smiled weakly at him, his small quirk of eyebrow would have gone unnoticed had Rankei not been inspecting him. "-on?"

The room fell silent after his belatedly question. Kantai coughed. "He has every right to be here, your majesty, since you've promoted him."

"Rather that promotion. You've placed me, a person with no rank, to someone straight at top," Rankei huffed. He folded his arms as though trying to make himself bigger despite the fact he was quailing inside.

Her eyes darkened and Rankei blanched at his own mouth, wishing desperately that he could retract his words that seemed to hang heavily in the air. "After what you and Shoukei have done, do you think you gone 'Oh is that right?' and think everything would be fine? I'm can't just wave my hands and make everything disappear."

Her voice fell as she continued, "I'm the Queen but even I can't do that."

"Your majesty. You did great. Rankei would just have to work hard now," Kantai chuckled. He strode towards Rankei and threw his arm around Rankei. "You would won't you?" he asked.

He questioned, but Kantai's question was not one. It was a statement and even though it was a rhetorical question, Rankei was bound to agree even if it was somewhat half-hearted.

"Anyway, as you ordered, the insurgents rose to bait and I've taken care of it. There was eight of them as reported."

"And the evidence?"

"Clear enough for the local government to judge them guilty."

She nodded. "I want to see Shoukei when you see her."

Kantai nodded and ushered Rankei out before he could say something else that he would once again regret. Once they were out of the forbidding room, Rankei gulped large breaths. "I thought she was going to kill me!"

Kantai 's lips twitched at his statement before sharing a glance with Koshou. "She almost had to. Since you are her adopted son and Shoukei was from her inner circle, the ministers had pressured her into executing you and Shoukei."

Shoukei and Suzu was waiting at the end of the covered walkway. The empty hallways of the inner palace made it ideal for quick conferring as they walked towards the more populated areas. "She had us running ragged looking for evidence to acquit your charges. I even became Choushi just so I get enough authority to push my way through." Suzu gestured wildly at her minister outfit. "I'll be rather glad when Sekki takes over. I'd much rather be a palace maid, thank you." She smirked at Rankei with an all-knowing look in her eyes. "No more Choushi-sama, please sign this! Choushi-sama, so and so is waiting for you in the conference hall. Choushi-sama please read this, we need this urgently."

"I don't get it though," Shoukei said. "What exactly did you find? And how."

"Well-" Kantai scratched his ear absentmindedly as he searched for a proper explanation. "First of all, I was able to witness before the battle and the leadership which helped to cement Rankei's position. He passively encouraged people to not revolt and in the end, those that came to the palace games were people who believed strongly in what they were doing that no one could dissuade them otherwise if they tried. Trust me, I tried. But for Shoukei, it was a lot harder."

"Almost impossible if I'd say," Suzu giggled. "Yoko got mad at government office down below, but she couldn't express it without giving away that she was the queen. So she made me Choushi and made me force them to do the whole trial. Then I got my lackeys to find evidence – real concrete evidence mind you, to force them to write how you were undoubtedly working for the queen."

"Like how you were screaming for Yoko when you were in jail. I had all the twenty jailers and guards attest to them. And how cared for and defended Yoko. And the notes!" Suzu motioned. "Sekki cracked all the notes to prove that you were working to undermine the insurgents."

"I'm impressed."

Kantai nodded, "So was her majesty. She said that she should remain as Choushi. But in order to emphasise that you were indeed working for the Queen, she had to give you ranks. Which means, you, Shoushiba, will be taking over the morning trainings from now on."

Suzu made at face at Kantai. "Choushi-sama –" she whined in a sing song manner before they broke out in laugher.

"That reminds me, her majesty wants to see you, Shoukei."

X-X-X-X

Yoko was sitting in the same position when Shoukei entered the room. Lost in her thoughts, she had not notice Shoukei stand there quietly. Shoukei watched her, not knowing what to say. There were many things she could say, but somehow they seemed inappropriate. She could almost guess the thoughts that flickered through Yoko's mind by just watching her face. She always told Yoko that she had a very expression face. Yoko's rosebud lips were pressed into a thin line, her eyes were narrowed with her eyebrows knotting.

"You're not a terrible queen!" she exclaimed, before quickly clapping her hands over her mouth in horror. She had not meant to say that but regardless, it had broken Yoko out of her trance. She turned to Shoukei who stood there, horrified and uncertain how to react.

"You don't think I'm a terrible Queen?"

Shoukei shrugged. "You'd know it yourself. You've seen down below. Twenty years ago, they barely had money to feed themselves. Now they even had silk as their curtains. It might be third grade silk, but it's still silk."

Yoko seemed to struggle with herself at Shoukei's statement. Shoukei was truly a princess at the core to have even noticed the grade of silk. Unable to suppress it, Yoko chuckled quietly at her statement.

"You laughed, so I've succeeded." Shoukei beamed, finally moving forward to sit in front of Yoko. "It doesn't make my statement any less false though. You know it's the truth. We had a relatively  _stable_ government so far. With the exclusion of the most recent rebellion, which by the way, what are the historians calling it?"

"The false rebellion."

"False rebellion. Rather ironic. I mean- how is a rebellion, false?" she trailed off, muttering to herself.

"What do you think about Mai?"

"Mai?" Shoukei whipped her head up."You mean Mai Tokuhoushi? You met him?"

"So you know?" Shoukei asked in a strangled voice at Yoko's look that she knew all too well. "Then what are you going to do about him?"

"Mai or the murderer?" Yoko bent down, focusing on that strange spot on her hand. "Shouryu was informed and has dealt with the murderer. As for Mai-"

"En-ou? The murderer was from En?"

"You didn't know?"

"No. I had guessed that it was Ryouryu but I didn't expect him to be from En. Then that man that was executed-" Shoukei paled remembering how terrible the wounds were on the man. She had asked En-ou why a prisoner was mistreated so terribly. He merely shook his head.

"Did you know for a long time?"

"No," Shoukei replied in a small voice. "I found out when I was tracing the routes. That was when I met Mai. He knew I worked for you. We had an argument over which way was the best way to resolve it but before either of us could decide, Jinhaku had captured you and both of us scrambled to save you."

"So that's what happened."

"You don't believe me?"

"I just wondered why you didn't tell this to me earlier when you were with me in Bun province."

"I wanted to! But Jinhaku's men were breathing down my neck that I couldn't say anything without risking them overhearing it. Not to mention you disappeared to that minister's mansion without consulting me! All those evidence you found about toki smuggling, who do you think brought it to your attention?"

"And Mai? You didn't answer my question. What do you think of him?"

"Mai? He's- a man of integrity but for someone who says he was tired of caring of  _kingly_  matters, he cared an awful a lot for this matter."

"I see."

"Why? What about him? And why are you wearing formal wear? You hate it."

"We had executions for the men who rebelled. I thought the least I could do as the part of the Queen was to wear formal wear to their executions."

"So that's why you had Kei Taiho stay in En! You're practically taking a leaf off Tai-ou!"

"She's sort of mourning for them by wearing formal wear. The executions were two weeks ago," Maito said, cocking a head at Yoko. "I told her that she need not feel sort for them. They knew the weight of their crimes. They had accepted it."

"It doesn't make it feel any better," Yoko snapped back.

"You're here! Why?! What about Satouku?"

"It's not called Satouku. It's called Hetaito," Maito said flatly.

"Black blade, what a cliché name."

"I didn't pick it. It crumbled anyway. Most of the people were arrested for rebellion."

"Then what's going to happen to you?"

"Her majesty insisted I start a new network and when I've finished that and groomed a proper successor, if I still wanted to become mortal again, she would give it to me."

"Oh? What are you going to call it?"

"Heitaito the second, of course. What else would you call a shadow organization?"

"We'll call it Koukushin," Yoko answered before either of them could continue bickering.

"Black Peace?"

"No," Yoko smiled. "Kouku as in in hope."

"In hopes of peace. That's a nice name."

"It's a good name," Mai agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! I've finally finished it. 
> 
> I know I mentioned about Heaven's Will and stuff. I may or may not have explained it to your satisfaction. What is this Heaven's Will all about? This is mentioned in my story Gone. This story is actually a prequel of it. If you're interested, you may want to check it out.
> 
> I mentioned about Tai and stuff. This is due to 4 years after Yoko's coronation, Risai came to Kei to beg for help. If you read the novels, you'd be familiar with this. Yes, there's speculation what happened. I've never been rather fond of that arc. I'm not even sure if anyone is interested in reading a story from that arc. But I formed my own "assumptions" of what might have happened after Risai and Taiki fly back to Tai. Let me know if you're interested in it.
> 
> Keikei/Rankei is supposed to be 26. Gauging by his appearance and his mannerisms in the anime, I guessed him to be 6 to 8.
> 
> I also... know... that I might have a plot hole... Please don't kill me. D: I think I did my best to find all the holes. Do mention if you find one and I'll see if I can fix it...
> 
> Was the conclusion to what you expected? I had great difficulty writing this story because this story actually turned out very different from what I planned. Originally the story was about Shoukei backstabbing Yoko and Yoko enlisted the help of a shadow organization that Koukan found. Yoko accidentally kills Shoukei and grieves over it. Keikei tries to take revenge and Hankyou kills Keikei to save Yoko. Then Yoko finds out that Shoukei had been led around all along and hadn't intentionally betray Yoko. She grieves and Keiki comforts her. Story ends there. The story certainly wrote itself, so much so that it was exceedingly difficult to tie up everything. That's why this last chapter is huge! I thought about how Yoko easily accepted Youtashi & Mai's explanations. In most cases (that I generated in my mind) Yoko would have been mildly or even very skeptical of their motives and reasoning. The fact she accepted at face value was rather flawed, but let's just ignore it. I know! Yoko is a little emotional at the end but I felt that anyone who saw that amount of bones would have been shaken. It would have taken a monster to be not upset.
> 
> Also who the hell is Gyou-ou? After Tatsu-ou, there were 3 queens. Unknown Queen, Unknown Queen and You-ou aka prophet queen. Since their names were never mentioned, I just gave them random names. So now its Tatsu-ou, unknown Queen, Gyou-ou and You-ou.
> 
> I know I was asked repeatedly for a scene between Keiki and Yoko and their relationship. As you might have noticed, I don't really include Keiki. For several reasons, mostly because I find Keiki a little dour for my liking. I found it hard to write him in a way that keeps him close to the original character and still be endearing hence my decision to omit much of him out of my stories. I suppose Keiki would be angry at Yoko at the end when he finds out what she did when he sent her away. He'd sigh and go "You majesty. Kirins are supposed to be there to be your other half." He drives me crazy – in a bad way.
> 
> There is a link with 'Gone' and this story. They had shadow organization and in 'Gone' they had an actual village. The idea is that Koukushin is actually the name of that organization. I have plans to write a third one that is in-between 'Gone' and this one. This would incorporate all the elements that have been talked about: the shadow organization and the birth of the no-man's land. This would probably feature more of Tai though, so I'm a little skeptical if anyone is interested in it.


End file.
